


Emissaries & Alphas

by iprincealii, MelodramaticSalad



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: AU, Alcohol, Alternate Universe - Canon, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Anal Sex, Angst, Biting, Blowjobs, Bondage, Bottom Stiles Stilinski, Canon-Typical Violence, Character Death, Derek Hale is Bad at Feelings, Derek Hale is a Good Alpha, Developing Relationship, Dom Derek Hale, Dom/sub, Domestic, Domestic Fluff, Eventual Canon Divergence, Explicit Language, Fandom Allusions & Cliches & References, Fluff, Friends With Benefits, Gen, Gore, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, Light BDSM, M/M, Magical Stiles Stilinski, Pack Dynamics, Safe Sane and Consensual, Scratching, Self-Harm (Mental), Shameless Smut, Slow Build Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski, Tattoo Artist Derek Hale, Top Derek Hale, Underage Drinking, Underage Smoking
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-05-14
Updated: 2016-04-08
Packaged: 2018-01-21 17:56:30
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Underage
Chapters: 32
Words: 197,327
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1559048
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iprincealii/pseuds/iprincealii, https://archiveofourown.org/users/MelodramaticSalad/pseuds/MelodramaticSalad
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Derek and Stiles had always hated each other, that hatred followed closely by a subtle attraction that neither of them had fully admitted to until after Peter's fiery demise. (TAGS WILL BE UPDATED AS MORE CHAPTERS ARE ADDED.) Eventually Stiles learns about what exactly his spark is and just what he can do with it in order to protect the ones he cares most about.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Retriubtion

**Author's Note:**

> This is our story (mine and melodramaticsalad), including majoratively canon events from the show until the Alpha pack comes in where our RP was inspired to begin with by this fanvid: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7VPjjqP9eOY
> 
> It was originally a role play through Skype and is (at the time I'm writing this) still an ongoing work. We hope you enjoy reading it as much as we did writing it. Our story starts with the events of Magic Bullet, focusing mainly on Derek and Stiles because let's face it - Sterek is the best.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So if you're new to the story, we are beginning just after Lydia's attack at the winter formal! We originally started at the wolfsbane bullet episode, but to make the fic less lengthy, I'm getting rid of some of our straight out of canon scenes that are throughout the fic since it made it a lot more bulky! We hope you all enjoy the fic!

Stiles had an uneasy feeling when Lydia didn’t come back from looking for Jackson, especially when he himself had run into the lacrosse co-captain. He could feel his heart pound in his chest, his stomach feeling as if it had been filled with lead. He ran to the field faster than he had ever recalled running in his life, screaming for her to run from Peter at the top of his lungs. Peter saw Stiles approaching at a sprint from the other side of the field, closer to the school, smirking at his pitiful cries to tell the girl to run. It was perfect how well his plans were coming together. 

Now that Stiles was here, he could bite Lydia - she’d either die or join his pack later - and he could finally start to get somewhere with finding Derek. She looked at him, so terrified. He almost felt bad for the way her heart started pounding out of control as he shifted. Almost... He bit into her side and shifted back; tilting his head to the side and watching her fall. She looked better in red. He bent down next to her, putting a protective hand over her, a growl emanating from his chest and his throat as he looked up to Stiles who was skidding to a stop in front of him. He fell to his knees when he stopped only a few feet away from the two of them, trying to reach for her.

“Don’t kill her. Please.” Stiles pleaded the eldest living member of the Hale family, trying so hard not to back away from the two of them. He didn’t care if he got hurt in the process, he just needed to protect Lydia and get her away from Peter before he could do any more damage. Stiles tried to keep calm and not panic, but the sight of blood of Lydia’s skin and dress was something that he never wanted to see in his entire life. He looked between her and Peter, trying to stand his ground and hide just how afraid of the alpha he really was. Peter raised a clawed hand, pretending to agonize over it for a moment before retracting his hand.

“Of course not,” he said, looking up at Stiles. “Just tell me how to find Derek.” He said. Stiles furrowed his eyebrows, wondering why Peter would be coming to him of all people for information like that.

“I-I don’t know that? How am I supposed to know where he is?” He asked, looking back up at him.

“Hmm,” he hummed with an unimpressed smile. “Let me rephrase,” Peter said and lowered a still clawed finger to the side of Lydia’s face. Stiles was lying, horribly considering he knew that Peter was a werewolf and could hear every little beat of that tiny little heart. He knew pressure was one surefire way to break anyone, and Lydia was Stiles’ pressure point. He didn’t break her skin, but he traced his nail down from her temple to her jaw line, the whole while repeating very carefully, enunciating every syllable, “Tell me how to find... Derek Hale.” Stiles panicked, trying to keep himself calm as he struggled to not push Peter away from Lydia. He panted as his heart pounded in a mixture from the fear and from exerting himself at the speed he had run to get through the feeling, quickly looking up and down between the two of them.

“L-Look, I have no idea how to find Derek! I-I sw-swear to God I have no idea.” He stammered, struggling with trying to stop his panicking. Peter sighed through his nose, smiling.

“See, this is where I’m having difficulty. You’re the clever one, you also happen to be the one whose stench seems to be lingering the most over my dear nephew. Not Scott, you.” Peter said, glaring at Stiles. “His concern for you would be touching if it wasn’t so pitiful. Now, being aware of that - I know you can help me.” He said and looked down to Lydia, pouting his lip. “Your lies have a particularly acrid scent Stiles.” He said before looking back up at Stiles. “Tell me the truth.”

“I’m telling you the truth!” Stiles protested, biting his lip and looking back down at Lydia. This whole thing was turned sideways so fast and the fact that Derek had been concerned for him at all was something he couldn’t think about right now. “I-I’m not lying to you, I really don’t know where Derek is and I don’t know how to find him!” He said quickly. Peter was running out of patience. He looked at Stiles for a solid two seconds before shouting.

“TELL ME!” His voice reverberated through the empty lacrosse field, echoing with the sounds of a powerful growl. Stiles winced at the sound of his voice, biting his lip and closing his eyes tightly as he cowered.

“Okay, okay, okay! Look...I...I think that Derek knew. I think he knew he was going to get caught. I think...When they were shot, I think he took Scott’s phone for the GPS. So...If it’s still on, and he still has it, you can find him.” He finally told him. Peter smiled, holding out his hand (palm up).

“See now... was that so difficult?” He asked. He got to his feet, pulling out a handkerchief from his coat pocket. “Now all you have to do is come with me and track Scott’s phone. Then, you can go... I don’t really care what you do after.” He said and brought the handkerchief up to his mouth, wiping off the blood from his chin.

“No, no, I’m not going to just let you leave her here like this! I don’t care anymore about what happens to me, as long as she’s safe! If we leave her here, she’s going to bleed out!” He exclaimed, pushing his fear back so that he could focus on what was really important. Peter finished wiping up his chin, tucking the bloody kerchief back in his coat.

“You don’t have a choice Stiles, you’re coming with me.” He said and glanced down at Lydia. She looked almost peacefully dead with her eyes open staring vacantly ahead - but he could hear her heart beating, trying to, desperately slow. She was in shock, not dead and Stiles was right. Even if the Bite took, it wouldn’t matter if she bled out beforehand. “Call your friend Jackson, tell him where she is. That’s all you get.” Stiles nodded, exhaling shakily as he got to his feet and pulled out his phone. He could barely dial the numbers and almost dropped his phone a few times in the process. He kept the call short and quick, getting to the point right away before he hung up.

“Okay, I’ll go with you.” He said softly, casting one last glance at the school.

“Good,” Peter said with a grin. “After you.” He said, gesturing for Stiles to lead the way to his Jeep. He directed Stiles to drive to the parking garage where he’d left his nurse’s car, glaring at Stiles in annoyance after about the third time Stiles had sighed. “You know, she’s lucky really. If she lives she’ll become a werewolf and be incredibly powerful. Much more than I can say for you.” Stiles tried to ignore Peter, a scowl on his face as he thought about what Lydia would be like as a werewolf.

“Yeah and once a month she’ll go completely out of her mind and try to tear me to shreds.” He stated, rolling his eyes before he tried to focus on the road. Peter made a grimacing face.

“Well, twice a month, actually as she’s a woman.” He said, and turned to look over at Stiles, barely able to suppress a laugh bubbling up from his throat. “Oh come on Stiles, I gave her a gift. You should be happy for her - turn here, it’s this one. Third level.” He said, directing Stiles as they pulled up to the parking structure. Stiles tried not to think about what he had said, really not needing to know that there would be even more dangerous risks to being near Lydia. He tried to ignore it, pulling into a parking space on the level before he turned his car off. Peter got out of the car and Stiles debated on making an escape, looking around the parking lot for a few moments. How hard would it be to outrun Peter? Very hard, but it might not be completely impossible... 

The second Stiles got out as well, Peter grabbed him by his shirt, dragging him a couple cars down the row and placing him in front of the trunk to his nurse’s car. Stiles followed him without trying to pull away from him, finding that it was no use to do so. He looked at the car when they stopped, furrowing his eyebrows.

“So uh, whose car is this anyways?” He asked, figuring that Peter didn’t have his own car just get.

“It belonged to my nurse,” Peter replied. He had no idea why she had to have so many keys on one key ring. Especially when he knew a few of these to be office keys for the hospital. He finally found the one he was looking for, with a symbol on it matching the symbol on the trunk of the car, and put it into the key slot. He turned it, opening the trunk. The smell of death and decay wafted out like a wave, revealing her corpse curled up in the trunk, her dead arms holding a laptop bag to her chest.

“And what happened to your nurse?” He asked curiously before he saw the body and the smell hit him. “Oh my God!” He exclaimed, jumping back away from the car. That was it, this officially settled it. Peter was absolutely insane! Peter moved her arms and took the bag, handing it over to Stiles - though it more so smacked into Stiles’ chest. Stiles took the bag, really, really hoping that he wasn’t going to die when this was all over and done with. Peter looked in the trunk at his nurse, tilting his head at her after Stiles’ question. “I got better.” He said, as if it was as simple as that. He shut the trunk and took the bag back from Stiles, sitting it on top of the trunk and bringing out the laptop that was inside. He opened it up, taking the wifi-hotspot generator out as well.

“Of course you have Mifi.” Stiles stated before noticing the brand of laptop. “And you’re a Mac guy too. So does that go for all werewolves or it is just your personal preference?” He asked, crooking an eyebrow at him. Peter stepped back from the computer, looking over at Stiles as if that was the dumbest question in the world. This wasn’t his laptop, of course not, but that was irrelevant.

“Turn it on and get connected.” He instructed, tucking his hands into the pockets of his coat. Stiles shook his head as he leaned against the car and turned the Wifi hotspot on.

“You’re really killing the whole werewolf mystique thing.” He mumbled before sighing. “Look, you still need Scott’s username and password, and I’m sorry but I don’t know them.”

“Really? Again with the lying?” Peter asked, tilting his head forward a little and raising an eyebrow at Stiles. “You’re his best friend - might as well be his brother. You know his log in information.” Peter said. Stiles took a deep breath and turned to the laptop, trying to stop his hands from shaking.

“What’s going to happen when you find Derek?” He asked as he glanced back at him. “You’re going to keep killing people, aren’t you?”

“If an injustice was committed against your family. If nearly all of your loved ones were ripped from you in one night, and you saw it happened - powerless to stop it then, but able to avenge them later... Would you not do the same?” Peter asked, laughing then. “Who am I kidding, of course you wouldn’t. But I made a promise to get justice for them. I won’t stop until those responsible have paid the same price they demanded of my family just for being who they were.” Peter said, glancing around the parking garage as Stiles worked. “Derek understands that - I don’t expect you to.”

“Scott won’t help you kill people.” He stated, frowning at him before he shifted a little. “If I do this, I want you to leave Scott alone. He wants absolutely nothing to do with your pack.”

“Scott doesn’t understand how lucky he is. He doesn’t appreciate or know just how much having the Bite is a blessing. The power that comes with being part of a pack.” Peter said, pausing for the thought to sink in for Stiles. “Scott isn’t able to conceive of the abilities that he could learn, how much he could benefit from joining up with me. He’ll see it eventually, they always do - omegas.”

“He’s not going to help you.” Stiles stated with a roll of his eyes as he listened to Peter say his little bit. He lightly tapped his fingers on the keyboard, wondering if he should type out the username and password or if he could keep stalling him.

“We’ll see,” Peter said and noticing the screen that Stiles was hesitating on, he motioned at the keyboard. “Stalling is only wasting the precious minutes you could be spending with your beloved Lydia.” Stiles hated that he had to remind him of that and shot a scowl over at the alpha wolf before he gave in. He sighed as he typed ‘Allison’ into the username before doing the same for his password and hitting the enter key.

“There we go.”

“His username and password... Are both Allison?” Peter asked after Stiles had typed them in, incredulousness spreading over him and writing itself on his face. “You have got to be kidding me.” He said, his voice taking on a disapproving note.

“Are you sure you still want him in your pack?” Stiles asked, raising an eyebrow as he looked over at him. “Because it’s basically going to be this all day, every day.” Peter shifted his eyes over to Stiles before rolling them and looking back to the computer screen.

“Just locate his phone.” He said, scowling. Stiles nodded and went to the ‘Find my Phone’ page. After it was done finding the signal, he furrowed his eyebrows.

“They’re keeping him in his house?” He asked, seeing that it just took them to the burned down Hale house. Peter looked at the screen, resting his hand on the trunk of the car as he looked grinned. “Not in it. Under it. I know where he is.” Peter said, grin slipping from his face as he looked up - a low howl was resounding through the air. A minute later a slightly higher one answered back. “And now so does Scott.” He said slowly, looking around him. Stiles furrowed his eyebrows at that, not hearing the howl at all. He closed the laptop, assuming they were done with it.

“So now you have everything you need.” He stated as he put it back in the bag and into his Jeep for safe keeping until he needed to return it to Scott. He was just hoping now that Peter was done with him and he could leave.

“One of two last things, give me your keys,” Peter said, holding out his hand for them. Stiles furrowed his eyebrows and sighed before he reached into his pocket, figuring that he was sane enough to realize that it was wrong to drive around with a body in the trunk.

“Just be careful, she grinds when you put her in second.” He mumbled, hating how he had to be stuck with an insane alpha for a good portion of the night. Peter crushed the keys in his hand, offering them back out to Stiles. Stiles sighed as he took the keys, knowing that he really should have seen that coming.

“There you are,” he said with a smile after Stiles had taken them back. “And as a reward for doing such a brilliant job of helping locate my nephew, I’m going to offer you a little gift. A token of my esteem, if you will.” He said with a slight bow and a flourish of his hand. He waited for Stiles to ask what it was, smiling as he did.

“So...You’re not going to kill me?” He asked, just wanting to make sure. “What kind of token exactly are we talking about?”

“Kill you,” Peter said, laughing. “I’m not going to kill you, no. I’m going to offer you the greatest gift a human could receive.” Peter said, incredulous that Stiles would think he was going to kill him - though not unsurprised. “I’m offering you the Bite, Stiles. One time opportunity, so think carefully before you answer. I won’t offer it again and I don’t offer this lightly.” Stiles furrowed his eyebrows and swallowed hard as he tightened his hand around his set of keys. He thought about the pros of becoming a werewolf. It would mean no more sitting on the bench, he would get a girlfriend, and he wouldn’t be left out anymore. 

He admitted to himself that he had wished that he could have been bitten instead of Scott, because he knew that he would have been more responsible with his powers. Scott never bothered to do any of the research while Stiles on the other hand did hours and hours of it so that he could help his best friend through it. His heart pounded in his chest as he thought about it, trying to push down that jealous side of him so that he could focus on what was more important.

“I don’t want to be like you.” He stated as he stepped back, making himself believe that was what he really wanted.

“Really? Because the idea of being faster, stronger, more agile than any of your other friends - more than any other human period - the ability to hear and smell things more strongly than ever before, to help protect your precious little girlfriend?” Peter asked, hearing the uptick in Stiles’ heart rate as he reached out for Stiles’ arm. “You’d be unstoppable Stiles; you could finally prove to all those losers at your school how amazing you can really be!” Peter urged, taking a slow step forward. Stiles closed his eyes for a moment before he shook his head again and pulled away. Peter had started leaning his mouth towards Stiles’ arm, closing it shut as he balled his hand into a fist after Stiles had wrenched away. Stiles kept telling himself over and over that he didn’t want that, that he wanted to be normal. He didn’t want to be hunted and he didn’t want the risk of attacking someone he cared about if he couldn’t control himself. He tried to think of those a lot more than the good things that he so desperately wanted.

“I don’t want it.” He said again firmly, swallowing hard as he tried to stare him down. Peter narrowed his eyes at Stiles, circling him slowly as he spoke.

“Fine, do what you want. Keep lying to yourself, let that jealousy fester. Because all I can hear Stiles - is that little flutter of your heart every time you say the words, ’I don’t want.’” he said, leaning over Stiles’ shoulder as he whispered the last few words. Then, with the information he needed now in his hands, he left Stiles in the lot. The kid could figure out his own way home, Hell he could even keep the stupid laptop. Peter didn’t want to waste any more time getting to Derek.

Stiles cursed to himself before he rushed to the hospital to go see how Lydia was doing, and to meet up with his dad once he got there since his dad had been trying to call him repeatedly. Once he had answered his dad’s questions and gotten some answers of his own, he was able to quickly put together what he needed to know before he drove with Jackson to the normally abandoned Hale house so that he could help out in any way he could. Whenever Jackson complained about him driving off of the road, he told him to stop complaining about it. There were more important things to worry about, like the lives that were at stake for example. Once they got there, he quickly got out of the car before he grabbed the bottle of the little science experiment that Lydia was kind enough to show them in the school. This time he hadn’t made the same mistake that Jackson had and made sure to use all the correct ingredients.

“Hey!” He yelled at Peter to get his attention before he threw the beaker with the homemade bomb in it at him. Peter looked up from his fight with Scott, seeing another of their stupid liquid beakers flying at him. He caught it adeptly, right before it would have smashed into his face. He glared at Stiles, growling at him. Then Scott was shouting to Allison and he saw she had her bow in her hand, nocking an arrow back on the string. Peter aimed the beaker at her, but she loosed her arrow before he could throw the beaker. Fire exploded across his chest and all of his left arm, burning his skin, singeing his fur. He screamed, flinging his arm to try and shake it off.

Over the roar of the fire and his own screams he didn’t hear the other beaker coming at him until his whole body was ablaze. His mind was brought back to the fire, to that night - leaving him feeling nothing but rage below the agony he was in. He rounded on Allison, stepping towards her but Scott appeared on his path, kicking him back. He loosed a high-pitched whine, the pain finally causing him to shift back as the flames died out - the rest of his body which had been burned was stuck in his alpha form. He dropped to his knees, barely able to breathe as he looked at Scott. And then he was losing consciousness, going into shock and falling onto his back.

At that point, Derek finally walked out of the house, his mind still reeling from seeing his uncle burned alive in front of him. His anger and the echoes of Peter’s memories of killing Laura fueled him forward, not once taking his eyes off of Peter’s still twitching body as he approached him. His uncle was staring up and Derek wondered if in this state he was even aware of what was going on. That didn’t matter to him - Scott had showed him the truth. Had showed him what Peter really was, though he’d had his suspicions all along. How could he not go along with his uncle’s plan, to kill those who had killed their family - to fulfill the promise he’d made even to himself, if he could find out who had helped Kate. Now, the only person left in his family was Peter and all because Peter wanted to be the alpha. Because he knew that without the power of being an alpha, he couldn’t get their revenge. Now Laura was dead and Derek knew what he had to do. This was his retribution, his punishment for failing his family - standing with his feet on either side of Peter. He knelt down, reaching out with a clawed hand for Peter’s neck when Scott came up a few feet behind him.

“Wait, you said for the cure to work, I have to do it - Derek, please,” Scott begged. Derek lowered his head, knowing how much it meant to Scott, but this wasn’t something he could let go. He couldn’t let Scott kill him. Stiles was still breathing heavily from the amount of the excitement going on, quickly looking between where Derek stood over his uncle and where Scott was standing. Oh, this was bad. He could tell just by Derek’s stance and how tense he looked that he absolutely had no plans of giving it up.

“You’ve... already... decided...” Peter gasped under him, drawing Derek’s gaze to his face. “I can smell it on you!” Peter growled, his eyes shifting red. Derek grit his teeth, raising his arm back even as Scott was begging him to stop, bringing his arm down and ripping his claws deep through Peter’s neck. Peter’s eyes shifted back and forth, blood gurgling up from his mouth and pouring out of his neck. Stiles felt no sympathy for Peter’s throat being slashed because he knew that Peter deserved much more than that. He couldn’t blame him for being twisted after years of being stuck in a coma, but that didn’t excuse the way he had gone about getting revenge. As much as he didn’t want to admit it, he empathized with Derek.

He didn’t want to know what it felt like to lose nearly his entire family in a fire, or to have his only living sister ripped in half, but he knew that if he had gone through the same things and had been lied to by the last remaining member of his family for some crazy vendetta, he would be more than a little pissed too. As much as it sucked for his best friend and as much as he wanted to call Derek a heartless dick, he understood why he wouldn’t be able to let go and step aside. Derek stood, feeling as Peter died because he felt the power surging into him. He looked over at Scott, eyes shifting red as the transfer completed itself. ‘That was for Laura,’ he thought to himself as he spat down at Peter’s corpse.

Stiles rushed to his friend’s side, gently placing a hand on his shoulder. “Hey, we need to get out of here, Scott.” He told him quickly, not wanting to be there when the cops would arrive. He didn’t know what else was going to happen in the future, but he knew that there was no going back to being normal. Even if Scott did get his humanity back, there would still be werewolves running around. He tried to keep looking on the bright side, telling himself that with Scott as a werewolf it would be easier to handle these things as they happened.

\---------------------------------------------------------- 

Derek stayed behind after everyone left; the Argents going in, he supposed, to say goodbye to Kate before they left. He took Peter’s body with him into the house, not wanting the police to get their hands on it. He made sure it was hidden very well, out of the ability of anyone but him to find, and then made his way out of town. He got about half of the way to the California-Nevada border before he turned back, angrily resigned to the fact that he still owed it to Scott to help him – especially since he’d ripped away Scott’s only chance at a possible cure. He didn’t feel sorry about killing Peter, only sorry that he hadn’t figured it out sooner. Sorry that he hadn’t been with Laura and that he now owed his thanks to finding out what happened to Scott and Stiles, in a round about sort of way that didn’t really matter in the long run. 

When he got back he spent the next week and a half trying to find a new place to live. Living in his old house had been a way to keep himself on track, but since he’d left the Argents had apparently decided to make it their base. He supposed they’d been waiting for him, to kill him too, but he didn’t dwell on it. Eventually he’d found the cheapest place he could stay - a warehouse with a yearly rent of about $500. It was a pretty sweet deal, and considering how little stuff he had it didn’t take him long to move in. He actually had just dragged a new mattress up the stairs and into the room he’d designated for himself to sleep in when he heard someone pull up outside. He frowned, going over to the window - recognizing the sky blue Jeep parked next to his Camaro.

He rolled his eyes, shaking his head as he walked over to the door, sliding it open before going over to the last box of his belongings, walking it up the stairs to his bedroom before shutting that door. He waited for Stiles in the main room - knowing he was alone based on the fact that there were no other pairs of feet coming up the stairs to the door - arms crossed and leaning against the brick wall by the windows. From this spot he was mostly hidden by shadows, any light coming in the windows from the afternoon sun lighting up the room in front of him.


	2. Bonding

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stiles didn’t really know what on Earth he was doing here. Well, he did, he wanted to check on Derek and make sure that he was okay. He wasn’t sure what possessed this urge to make sure he was okay, but he was just going to go with it. Derek did save him from Peter, so he did owe it to him. There, that was his explanation that he could tell himself and anyone else that asked. There was absolutely no other reason that could make sense to him. He was not worried about the older man, not even a little. He tried to ignore the memory of what Peter had told him, refusing to admit that was part of it too.

Stiles didn’t really know what on Earth he was doing here. Well, he did, he wanted to check on Derek and make sure that he was okay. He wasn’t sure what possessed this urge to make sure he was okay, but he was just going to go with it. Derek did save him from Peter, so he did owe it to him. There, that was his explanation that he could tell himself and anyone else that asked. There was absolutely no other reason that could make sense to him. He was not worried about the older man, not even a little. He tried to ignore the memory of what Peter had told him, refusing to admit that was part of it too.

He stood beside his Jeep and lightly jiggled his keys in his hand as he tried to calm down his nerves. Derek did still scare him a little, but it was mostly because he was now an alpha and a hell of a lot stronger than he previously was. If it came down to it and Stiles ever had to fight Derek, he’d probably last five seconds at that most and those seconds would mostly be him trying to run. He took a deep, slow breath before he pocketed his keys and heading up the stairs to the door and heading inside.

“Hey, Derek! Are you here?” He called, lightly nudging a box with his foot before he looked around the warehouse. Well, if this didn’t have ‘evil lair’ written all over it, then he didn’t know what could. It did have potential though, so maybe that was one thing that Derek saw in it. Derek stayed where he was, watching every move that Stiles made. ‘Why the hell is he here?’ Derek asked himself. Easiest way to get the answer would be to ask, so he did.

“What do you want Stiles?” He asked, resting his head against the wall as he waited for Stiles’ answer. He was pretty sure that school was over for the day, so there was likely a hundred other places that Stiles could be right now. But he was here, visiting him, alone.

“There’s a couple things I want. Y’know, a million dollars, a sports car, things like that.” He joked, putting his hands in the pockets of his jacket. This was so stupid, why did he have to come here? “Mostly, I just...I just wanted to make sure that you’re okay and everything.” He added, deciding he may as well just come out with it. Derek looked away from Stiles, trying to process that. He stepped away from the wall, glancing down at him as he stepped off the platform that led to the level Stiles was standing on.

“I’m fine...” He answered, thoroughly confused at this point. He didn’t really know what else to say, though questions were running through his mind ranging from ‘why does he care’ to wondering if Stiles had some sort of hidden agenda.

“Are you sure?” He asked him curiously, looking him over and seeing that he was still in one piece and didn’t look particularly bad. Well actually he looked great, really great, but that wasn’t the point. “After everything that’s gone on recently, are you really doing okay?” Derek glared at Stiles, narrowing his eyes at him before heading over to the door, resting his hand on the handle for it. If it were anything besides that that Stiles was trying to talk to him about, he might have tried to enjoy not being alone, but that was the last thing he wanted to think about.

“I’m sure,” he said, though he really wasn’t. He was still angry, still mourning, still scared because staying in Beacon Hills meant that he was keeping himself in danger for no real reason except for the constant nagging feeling that he owed not only the kid standing right in front of him, but Scott McCall of all people as well. On top of all of that, because Peter had killed Kate, the Argents were going to come after him at some point soon. Even if it wasn’t his fault about Kate, even if she deserved it. Of course, he realized, if Stiles could find him so easily, so could they. He turned his head to look at Stiles, somehow even more agitated.

“Is that all you wanted? Or did you want to make sure that I was going to leave you and your friends alone too?” He demanded, his anger bubbling up a little. “Because I really don’t understand why you’re here Stiles.” He said, the memory of Jackson the night after everything went down creeping into his mind. 

“Even if I told you to stay away from them, I’m not really sure that you would. I mean, you kind of are the type of person that pops up in people’s bedrooms for fun.” Stiles pointed out as he thought about that time. 

“Is there something else that I’m not getting here? Maybe you want the Bite too, is that it? Are you gonna demand it from me like Jackson?” He asked, stepping closer over to Stiles as he slammed the door closed, the metallic bang reverberating through the mostly empty warehouse. Stiles winced at the booming and echoing noise, taking a step back as Derek stepped closer to him. His heart pounded in his chest as much as he wished he could hide it, causing him to exhale shakily when he tried to calm himself. “Why are you really here?” Derek asked. A little thought creeped in, suggesting maybe Stiles did actually care, but he forced it down. Even if that was the truth, he couldn’t allow himself to believe it. Peter was right about one thing, caring about others made you weak, and fuck if he didn’t care about Stiles. At least a bit. Stiles shrugged his shoulders, keeping his hands in his pockets as he tried to think of what he could say when he didn’t really know all the reasons why himself.

“That’s not what I’m here for. Like I told your crazy ass uncle, I don’t want it.” He stated, telling himself that he was being completely honest with himself again. “I’m not here to pick a fight. I’m not here for some stupid bite either. I’m making sure that you’re okay.” He stated, staring him down and trying to make himself look bigger to Derek. “I know how badly it sucks to lose a family member, even if it is a psychopath like Peter. And I never got the chance to thank you for saving me from him when we were in the hospital. So...Thanks.” Derek searched Stiles’ face as he answered him, listening to his heart rate. 

The only thing he seemed to be lying about was the Bite, but he wasn’t going to point that out. He lowered his eyes, clenching his jaw a few times. He felt like he should say ‘you’re welcome’, but he couldn’t bring himself to say anything. He nodded, sighing through his nose. There was one thing that Stiles hadn’t answered, because Derek hadn’t asked it, and he looked back up at Stiles before he did because he wanted to see Stiles’ face. He wanted to see his reaction, and hear every beat of his heart in the event that Stiles tried to lie.

“Just tell me why you care,” he began. “After everything that’s been going on, why do you care if I’m okay?” He didn’t add that maybe, just maybe if he believed what Stiles’ told him, that he might just tell him the truth. As much as it was a danger, he felt that Stiles might just be the only one to understand how he was feeling - and that made him feel a little sick on it’s own. Right now though, with all the emotions running through his head, he didn’t know if he felt sick because he wanted to talk to Stiles or because of everything put together, but Stiles was talking and he had to pay attention.

“Because, I know I should be, but I’m not really angry about you being the one to kill Peter. And I know it’s screwed up to say that. I mean, he may have bitten Scott, but he did kill your sister. Yeah, I’m bugged that my best friend is still a werewolf, but I don’t blame you.” He stated, but his question was starting to eat at him. That was a very good question. He ignored the thought that again pushed its way into his head, Peter saying that Derek had looked out for him because for all he knew that was a lie and it probably was. And if it was a lie, then why did he care? Why did he care so much if Derek was okay? Why did it matter to him what happened to Derek? “I don’t know why I care, but I do.” He said softly, swallowing hard as he shifted on his feet and tried to think about it again. Was there more to it than just wanting to return a favor? It was probably all because of the whole fiasco with the monkshood bullet. It wasn’t exactly uncommon to see someone almost die and end up worrying about them afterwards. He was a little more than a little attracted to Derek, sure, but that didn’t completely explain why he came here just to make sure he was okay. “I just want to make sure you’re okay. That’s all.”

Derek swallowed a little hard, taking his cigarettes out of his pocket after he was done listening to Stiles and tapping one far enough out of the pack that he could take it out the rest of the way with his lips. He lit it with his free hand as he stuffed the pack back into his pocket. Stiles had told the truth, though from the smell of his scent it was a little more than what he’d said as to why he cared. Derek was no stranger to the smell of attraction - being surrounded by hormonal teenagers, the smell was easily recognizable if you were paying as much attention to Stiles as Derek was.

“Well,” he began, taking the cigarette from his lips and tapping the ashes on the ground. He blew out the smoke through the side of his mouth, away from Stiles’ face. “You should know the answer to that already, based on experience,” Derek told him, leaving it at that. It was as much of an answer of ‘no, I’m not’ that he could manage without feeling more like he was just going to vomit. Stiles nodded at that, relaxing a bit more as he took a slow breath. He didn’t know what he could say to help Derek feel better. Derek officially had no family, probably no friends, and he didn’t even really have a pack of his own. The alpha was truly alone.

“You know...” He started sighing and scratching at the side of his neck as he looked away from Derek. “You don’t really have to be alone.” He inwardly groaned as that came out, realizing just how stupid that probably sounded. “I mean, I’m not in your pack or anything, by any means but...It’s better than being stuck alone.” When his mom died, he was lucky to have the McCalls and his dad, but he still couldn’t stop his panic attacks or the anxiety he had felt all the time. Derek on the other hand had nothing like that. It was probably stupid of him, but he didn’t like the idea of certain people suffering alone.

“Being alone is what protects me,” Derek said, walking past Stiles and sitting down on the platform he’d stood on when Stiles first came in. “If you haven’t noticed, anyone who I was close with at some point is dead now.” He took a drag from his cigarette, tapping the ashes before looking up at Stiles. He felt like Stiles was trying to offer something, but he wasn’t sure what - Hell, he wasn’t sure if Stiles even knew what he was doing. “I’m alone because I choose to be, you don’t have to stay just because you feel like you owe me, or because you feel bad for me.” Derek told him, placing his cigarette in his lips and leaving it there, taking a drag and blowing it out towards Stiles’ feet. The smell of the cigarette made it harder to read Stiles’ emotions, but with what he’d smelled earlier he didn’t consider that a bad thing.

“Doesn’t matter. I think you’ve suffered enough, wouldn’t you say?” Stiles asked as he plopped down on the platform beside him. He didn’t mind the smoke, he could use it as an excuse for why his head wasn’t really clear right now.

“If I didn’t want to help you out, I wouldn’t be here. I’d be at my own house, watching TV or something. So, I’m here, and you’re basically going to accept it because I don’t think you’re really in the mood to carry me out of here.” He stated. Well, he hoped that he wasn’t in the mood because he was really trying to do a good deed here. Derek looked over at Stiles, raising an eyebrow before looking away and shaking his head.

“You’re really stubborn once you decide on something.” He said, a smile tugging at the corner of his lip. He forced it away, taking his cigarette from his lips and wiping at his mouth. He avoided looking over at Stiles, tapping his ashes on the ground.

“Yeah, I am. You’ll find that out really quick when I keep coming back over and you can’t get me to leave.” He said with a laugh, glad to see that Derek did seem a little bit more relaxed than he was a few minutes ago. “So uh...How’s the moving going?” He asked, looking around the room.

“Already moved,” Derek answered, realizing how bad that sounded even as he said it. It was the truth; he just really didn’t have a lot of stuff. When he’d come back to Beacon Hills to look for Laura, he’d left a lot of useless things behind. “You going on summer break soon?” He asked, resting his elbows on his knees, looking over at Stiles as he rested his chin on his arm. He tapped his cigarette absently, flicking ashes onto the floor.

“Haha, I wish.” Stiles groaned, moving to lay back on the platform. “Between all of this werewolf business and school, I have had it up to here with that place.” He replied, holding his hands up for good measure. “I mean, it wouldn’t be so bad if I didn’t have a sadist for a chemistry teacher.” Derek nodded, shifting his gaze forward as Stiles lay back.

“I can’t really empathize. I got my GED, didn’t really have to worry about asshole teachers.” He said, taking the last drag off his cigarette and snuffing it out under his shoe. “College is a lot easier than high school.”

“You went to college?” He asked, sitting up again at this sudden new little fact. He was thrilled that Derek was actually talking to him and telling him about himself. “What classes were you taking?”

“You sound so surprised,” Derek said, a little humor slipping into his voice. He couldn’t understand why he was just telling Stiles all of this, but he supposed this kind of confessing, this kind of exposure, was a lot better than talking about Peter or Laura or Hell, his whole family in general. “I took art classes mainly.” He continued after a moment. “I’d always been good at it, and it helped on my resume to say I was doing that when I started applying for apprenticeships at tattoo parlors around New York City.” Stiles had to take a moment to just stare at this very interesting man beside him.

“Art classes? Tattoo shops?” He asked in disbelief, his eyebrows rising as he stared at Derek. “Please tell me you still have some of your works. I need to see this for myself.” Derek shook his head.

“I left a lot of stuff behind when I came here, but I think the site is still up.” he said, even as he was pulling out his phone. He brought up a website and navigated through about six different links on it before finding a page titled, “Deven Hart - No Longer Available for Work.” On it was a spread of about thirty different sections of skin, all with either him working on it, or finished pieces. He didn’t comment on the fake name as he passed his phone over, not really wanting to go into that unless Stiles asked. It was weird, just sitting there talking to him, it felt oddly normal. As if they should have been doing this the whole time, but there’d just been too much drama, too much other stuff in the way for them to actually try and just talk to each other. Stiles crossed and folded his legs under him as he sat up, slowly going through all of the pictures.

“Oh my God, you’re actually amazing.” He spoke up after he had gone through them all, really liking Derek’s handiwork. He never really thought much about tattoos because the needles scared the Hell out of him, but just looking at these made him reconsider. “Do you have any other secret talents?” He asked curiously. He really wished he could see the work Derek did in school. Derek couldn’t stop the laugh that came out of his mouth.

“No, nothing else.” He said, taking back his phone and closing out the browser before putting it back into his pocket. “What about you? Other than being the King of Sarcasm.” He said and mentally winced. That wasn’t meant to be a compliment, but that’s totally what it came out as. Stiles stared at Derek with wide eyes as he just tried to process what happened. He just made Derek laugh. He just made Derek Hale laugh. He slowly grinned, disbelief still in his eyes. That was probably like seeing a unicorn in the forest. 

“My secret talent is that....I play the drums. I mean, I haven’t in a while, but I do. I also snowboard.”

“Why haven’t you played?” Derek asked, frowning over at Stiles. Snowboarding was pretty cool, but not exactly a conversation he wanted to go down after hearing Stiles could play an instrument. To be honest, if Derek had to have guessed what instrument Stiles played it likely would have been drums. Derek himself couldn’t play any instruments and his singing voice wasn’t exactly what he’d call awesome. He felt like he was lucky he could sing on key most days.

“I just haven’t had the chance lately, I’m so busy. And the neighbors used to complain every now and again.” He groaned a little. “But, you never know, maybe I’ll start playing again. I really liked it too and I think I was pretty good.” Derek nodded, getting up from his seat and walking up to his room. Stiles watched him walk off, wondering if he’d said something wrong and also wondering how he possible could have. Then Derek came back out a second later with a couple bottles of water, and he relaxed as Derek offered one to him.

“Kind of pointless to complain about noise when you’re complaining about the Sheriff’s house,” Derek said, cracking open his bottle and taking a drink.

“It was before my dad was elected, so there’s that too. I think as long as I’m not pounding away at three in the morning, they can get used to it.” He laughed before thanking him. “You can come over and watch one day. I mean, if you aren’t too bored out here.” Derek huffed a breath through his nose.

“You’re not worried about getting a house call from the Argents? Having your dad find out you’re still hanging out with the once accused psycho killer Derek Hale?” He asked, not at all considering actually going over there. It was one thing to entertain Stiles because he refused to leave, it was another to accept going over to his house and inviting danger. He wondered a little if he was being over cautious, but decided he wasn’t. There was too much at stake for him to just start hanging out with Stiles - especially when he remembered Stiles’ arousal during the whole ‘Miguel’ thing. In his experience, people who liked him were either liars or going to get hurt by him. He didn’t even want to think about if he started dating anyone - not that he’d be opposed to the idea if his life wasn’t going the way it was.

“Well when you put it that way...” Stiles paused for a moment, trying to think of what he could do so that he could show Derek. “Well, I guess that I have no other choice than to just bring it here.” He stated simply, thinking that would be the most suitable solution for the two of them. “There’s not too much here, and you can use it as a decoration for when I’m not around. I’m going to pack it in the back of my car and bring it over. There is just about nothing you can do about it, okay?” Derek closed his eyes and sighed inwardly. ‘Great,’ he thought.

“Your need to irritate me... is that instinctual or just because you l...” he hesitated on the word ‘like,’ not wanting to call Stiles out, “...do that with everyone?” Derek asked.

“I’m pretty sure that it’s all instinct.” He snickered, resting his elbows on his knees. “Basically I’m trying to repay you again. You just showed me what you were awesome at, so why don’t you let me show you what I’m awesome at?” He asked. He never thought he would say this, but he was actually comfortable around Derek. Take away the angry wolf attitude he had and he was actually a really good guy. Derek let out a silent laugh through his nose as he shifted his weight on his feet.

“Just don’t expect me to join in. I can’t play any instruments and if I sang I’d probably make you go deaf.” he said, and glanced at his phone for the time. It wasn’t that late, but he was getting hungry and he still had unpacking to do. He stood there awkwardly, not really wanting to invite Stiles to stay, but not knowing how to ask him to leave either. It was nice, having Stiles there, he had to admit that to himself at least. He was mainly just scared that this ‘like’ for Stiles that he was developing was going to turn into something more – even if he just became a friend that would be bad. 

Honestly, it all terrified him - so trying to be nice to Stiles, to open up to him more than he already had... it was uncomfortably comfortable to think about it. To think about Stiles actually moving his drum kit into his home, to have him come over and hang out more than just today… he couldn’t decide how he felt about it. Stiles of course was stubborn and he had a feeling the only way to get him to not do that would be to lash out at him - just push him away, kicking and screaming like a little child. He felt like his indecision was written all over his face as he glanced up at Stiles. Stiles slowly grinned at what Derek had said, it not really having been a no. He was really happy that Derek didn’t seem to mind the idea of it.

“Why? When you sing, does it come out as a howl?” He lightly teased, always going to use werewolf jokes whenever he would get the chance. “I’m pretty sure that if you gave it your best, it wouldn’t be too bad. Unless you’ve actually made people go deaf, or broke some glass, then I would advise you against it.” He said with a snicker. He wondered why he was so comfortable around Derek now, but it was probably because Derek was being so open and comfortable with him. He couldn’t help but warm up to him if Derek was doing the same. Honestly, when he got home the first thing he would probably do is look up more of Derek’s work as a tattoo artist so that he could admire it again. Maybe if he actually ever wanted a tattoo and he asked very nicely, Derek would do it for him.

“Not a howl, just... I don’t know, it’s hard to describe... I can sing on key, it’s just really rough, like,” he frowned, focusing his attention on what Stiles was asking him to avoid having to think about what he wanted to do. “Have you ever listened to Three Days Grace?” He asked. “Adam was who Laura always compared me to; I just never really saw it.” He said, mentioning Laura’s name kind of hitting him in the chest a little. He ignored it, swallowing down the pain.

“I love Three Days Grace. Riot is one of my go to songs when I’m practicing my lacrosse.” Stiles replied obliviously, really interested now that Derek had mentioned that he apparently sounded like him. “Now you’re going to have to sing for me so that I can hear this for myself. You can even belt out Twinkle Twinkle if you want, but you’re going to sing.”

“Right now?” Derek asked, raising an eyebrow. He definitely should have seen that coming, but he had so much going through his mind despite trying to push it out of the way. “I was thinking about getting some dinner.” He blurted out. ‘Fuck,’ he thought. He had no idea why he’d spat that out of his mouth, and his mind was scrambling trying to add on something that would let Stiles know he hadn’t exactly been inviting him, but coming up blank. Stiles didn’t fully take it as he was being invited, but he was going to make Derek sing if it was the last thing he did.

“Oh no, you are not getting it out of it that easily. You are going to sing for me before you go to dinner. Your food can wait, this is way more important.” Derek sighed in agitation; thinking, ‘great.’

“Fine.” He replied. “Let me set up then,” he said, taking his phone out as he went up to his room. He had a portable amp in there that he played his music through when he wanted to sing - which wasn’t often. Most of the time he just used the amp as a footrest. He brought it down to the main room, setting it down and kneeling in front of it, hooking his phone up and testing the audio quietly by just letting it play random songs as he fiddled with the dials until it produced the sound he wanted. He grabbed his water from the floor where he’d left it, taking a drink and swishing it around in his mouth as he searched for a song to sing along with. Most of the songs on his phone he knew by heart, but he did not want to sing in front of anyone without background music at least. Especially when he knew that he was going to be judged for quality.

Stiles waited patiently for him to set it up and made himself a little more comfortable on the platform while Derek was busy. Derek was frowning the whole time; he hated singing in front of people in general, but Stiles promised to leave after and that was good enough encouragement to get over it for now. With his equipment already set up he couldn’t exactly say ‘no’ without coming off as an asshole. For some reason that bothered him enough that he was going along with it.

“You’ll probably know this one,” he said, pulling up the song and cranking the volume on his amp up so Stiles could hear the music, but would still be able to hear him once he started singing. He didn’t press play yet, looking over at Stiles. “If its bad just... spare me, okay?” He asked.

“I know, I know, I’ll wait until the end. I promise that I won’t Simon Cowell you or anything like that. Just give it your best and I’ll let you know if you’re really good by the end of it. Deal?” He grinned at him, really excited to hear what Derek sounded like. Derek nodded, clearing his throat as he pressed play. The music came out at a decent volume, and he avoided looking at Stiles, focusing on the sound of the music so he didn’t chicken out. The only person he’d ever gotten comfortable singing in front of had been Laura and even with her being his sister it had taken a really long time for him to get to that point. He cleared his head of everything, but the music, trying to just pretend that no one was in the room with him, listening to every sound he made and watching his every movement.

“I’ll tell you now you can’t win this,” he sang along, “‘Cause you’re way too slow.” He continued, sounding more confident than he felt. His voice showed his nervousness at first, but by the time he’d reached the chorus it was showing less of that and more of the raw emotion he was going through. He kept his eyes closed still though, he was too into the lyrics, into singing them out, and into the meaning they had for him.

“So on the way down, I’ll watch you burn,” He belted, taking the higher notes on the last bit, his voice just exactly as he’d described. The whole time he sang he couldn’t help thinking of Laura. How she’d hum along off key as he’d sing, tapping her foot on the floor. How she’d always tell him how good he could sing, pestering him to join a band or something. He thought of how he’d found her, ripped in half and how all along it had been his own uncle he was searching for. How he’d visited Peter in the hospital at least once every other day when he’d come back to Beacon Hills, telling him everything - hoping for Peter to wake up and just tell him what he should do. The memories of Peter ripping her throat out came up too.

By the end of his thinking he’d been so focused on singing that he didn’t realize the song was ending until it was over and the guitars were fading out and he was catching his breath. Another song started automatically on his phone and he turned it off, the warehouse going dead silent compared to how loud it had been a few seconds before. He stared awkwardly at his phone for a minute before getting back to his feet and looking over at Stiles. He couldn’t keep his eyes on him though, too embarrassed at how he’d just let himself go when he was singing like he did, and also way too aware of the fact that he was shaking.

When Derek had started to sing, it was nothing that Stiles could ever expect. He almost wanted to think that perhaps he was hallucinating and that none of this was happening, but it was. He felt his heart pound as he listened to him, unable to take his eyes off of him. As Derek continued to sing, Stiles could feel all of the emotion that he was putting into the song and if he didn’t blink over and over every now and again, his eyes might have glazed over. He could see how uncomfortable and unsure Derek had been about singing, but now that he actually got into it, it was one of the greatest things that he had ever heard in his entire young life.

By the time the next song had begun, Stiles was only staring at Derek with wide eyes and a slack jaw. He couldn’t make any other face as he watched him because he was just so shocked and blown away by his voice. It took everything he had to swallow hard and try to come up with something coherent. “I, uh....That was.....Oh my God, that was incredible! I can’t believe it! That was so much better than I could have ever...Ah! You said you were terrible! You are literally the biggest liar okay?” He praised him, grinning as he got to his feet. “Holy....I just....Yeah.” Derek nodded, still unable to look at Stiles. His hands shook as he put his phone back in his pocket to take out his cigarettes and lighter. He lit one up, turning off his amp.

“You should...” he started, his voice cracking a little as smoke puffed out as he spoke. “You should go now.” He finally finished, gesturing at the door. He didn’t want company any more, Stiles’ praises reminding him again of his sister. He clenched his fist as he stood there, his hand shaking so much when he took the cigarette from his mouth that he almost dropped it. Stiles furrowed his eyebrows, slowly getting to his feet as he stepped closer to Derek who backed away as he stepped closer to him. He didn’t understand what could have upset him so much, but then again this was probably the most of himself that Derek had really shown to anyone in a long time. Normally he would have argued, but this was a different circumstance.

“Yeah. Uh....Thanks, for showing me.” Stiles said softly before he turned towards the exit. “Just...Don’t push yourself any more, okay?” He asked as he turned to glance back at him before he headed out to his jeep. Derek offered only a nod at Stiles request before Stiles left. He stayed there for a few minutes longer, finishing his cigarette.

“I’m sorry, Laura...” He muttered to himself, going into his room after shutting the door to his home, crashing on the bed which was still covered in plastic wrapping. He didn’t care, even when he started to fall asleep, fighting the urge to punch something and distract himself from his internal pain - if only for a moment.


	3. Kind of Friends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Derek woke up the next day, face sticking to the plastic of the mattress. He spent most of the morning unpacking, putting his box of clothes in his room, hanging his family pictures on the wall next to his bed. He even managed to get the bed completely set up before he ordered a pizza for lunch. Surprisingly enough he lived in the pizza place’s delivery zone, so he wasn’t surprised when he heard a vehicle pull up outside. He didn’t bother putting a shirt on as he kept putting things away - waiting for a knock on the door before he’d even bother going over to it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So here's the second chapter for this week! Nothing much else to add, but if you haven't checked out the #emissariesandalphas tag on Tumblr, there's a little playlist that I've been adding to nearly constantly that you can check out! It's a YouTube playlist, just FYI.

Derek woke up the next day, face sticking to the plastic of the mattress. He spent most of the morning unpacking, putting his box of clothes in his room, hanging his family pictures on the wall next to his bed. He even managed to get the bed completely set up before he ordered a pizza for lunch. Surprisingly enough he lived in the pizza place’s delivery zone, so he wasn’t surprised when he heard a vehicle pull up outside. He didn’t bother putting a shirt on as he kept putting things away - waiting for a knock on the door before he’d even bother going over to it.

\----------------------------------------------------------

Stiles was a man on a mission the moment he got home from school. He took apart his drum set in the garage before he carried it to his Jeep, piece by piece. When he had gotten everything loaded in the back and was sure that he had everything else that he could need, he nodded to himself and got to his car. At this rate, he was probably going to be spending a lot more time at Derek’s place than he could have ever thought possible, but that was only if Derek didn’t fully have a problem with it. He really did have a lot of fun with Derek and he was really hoping that it wasn’t just a one time thing and they would go back to only arguing. Once he pulled up to the warehouse, he jumped out of the car and went to the door before he began knocking to announce his presence. That was mostly in case Derek didn’t already realize that he was there.

“Just a second,” Derek called from his room, setting down the box of clothes he’d located next to the others. He considered putting a shirt on, but expecting a pizza delivery he wasn’t going to be face to face with the person for very long, so he didn’t. He dug his wallet out of his back pocket as he walked over to the door, taking a $20 out and holding it in his hand that he slid the door open with as he put his wallet away. He nearly dropped it when he saw that it was Stiles, at his house, two days in a row. ‘What fresh hell is this?’ he asked himself. “Stiles.” He said in greeting, frowning at him, confused as to why he was there.

“Hi, Derek.” Stiles grinned at him, glancing at his chest for a moment before he made himself look at his face again. “I told you that I was going to come back, so are you going to let me in or what?” He asked, hoping that he would just let him inside so he wouldn’t have to carry his drum set farther when he started to bring it in. Derek stood there looking at him for a solid minute before moving aside, gesturing for Stiles to come in. He couldn’t think of anything to say other than ‘why me’ or ‘please don’t make this a habit’ so he stuffed the money he’d gotten out for the pizza guy into his pocket and let Stiles do whatever as he headed into his room to grab a shirt. It wasn’t long after he’d found a shirt to wear that he heard another car pull up and a horn honk. He pulled his shirt on as he went to the window, seeing a car with the pizza place’s logo on the side of it. The driver caught sight of him in the window and waved, pointing at the stairs to the door questioningly as he held up Derek’s pizza. Derek nodded, though he was sure the driver couldn’t see it and went over to the door.

Stiles grinned when he was allowed in, wandering around the floor so that he could find the perfect spot to place his drum set. It had to be somewhere just right or it wouldn’t feel right to him. The pizza guy must have run up the stairs because he was out of breath by the time he reached the top where Derek was waiting at the door. “Hey, sorry it’s late man, got turned around, went to the wrong warehouse,” he said, offering the pizza out to Derek who took it. “It’s $12.50,” he said and Derek dug out the $20 from his pocket, handing it over.

“Keep the change,” he said, shutting the door on him even as the guy was thanking him profusely. He sat the pizza down on the table by the window, flipping it open to reveal a delicious smelling pepperoni. He picked up a slice, cheese stringing off of it, taking a bite. “Hungry?” Derek asked around the bite of food. At the mention of food, Stiles whirled around and headed over to it. The teenager let out a low groan and nodded as he took a piece.

“Thanks, this is exactly what I need. I had to skip out on lunch.” He mumbled before he began stuffing his face with the hot pizza. “I’ll be right back.” He soon piped up through a mouthful of it as he turned to head outside so that he could begin bringing in his drum set piece by piece. Derek raised an eyebrow as he took another bite of pizza, watching Stiles turn to leave.

“Where are you going?” He asked, seriously confused as to what Stiles was heading back outside for. It was possible he had homework, maybe had to study for a final and for some reason had decided to do both or one of them over here. He wasn’t sure though, setting his slice on the lid of the pizza box and waiting for Stiles answer, wiping his mouth with his thumb.

“Out!” He called back before he finished the last of his slice and wiped his hands on his pants. Derek frowned at him, rolling his eyes as Stiles took off back outside. He picked up his pizza slice and sat down on the edge of the table. It creaked under his weight, but held. Outside, once Stiles had decided that he had gotten just about all of the grease off of his hands, he began carrying his drum set in by taking most of the smaller pieces at once so it would take less trips. He took them inside and set them down on the spot he deemed perfect before he headed back outside to continue carrying in. Once he had every single piece he plopped down on the floor and worked on putting it all together. By the time Stiles was done carrying it all up, Derek had three slices eaten, watching the whole time as Stiles kept bringing up pieces of his drum kit, everything making sense now.

“You know, you could have asked me to help you bring that all up,” Derek said as Stiles sat down to start piecing it all together. Stiles paused for a moment and furrowed his eyebrows.

“Wow, I actually didn’t think about that. Just keep eating your pizza.” He said with a light laugh before he went back to working. Derek shook his head, picking up a final slice and munching on it as he watched Stiles work. He’d eaten about half the pizza - he left what was there for Stiles, wiping his hands on his jeans and going upstairs to his room. He came back out with a couple Mountain Dews, offering one to Stiles as he walked over to check his progress.

“You eat pizza and drink soda?” Stiles asked in disbelief as he opened the can and took a swig. “I was almost expecting raw steaks or something in a fridge. Maybe a case of the manliest type of beer. Something that puts hair in your chest.” He laughed to himself as he looked up at him. He knew that he was never going to stop teasing Derek because it was quickly becoming one of his top favorite activities. “Also, can I borrow your little amp when I get this all set up?”

“Werewolves can’t get drunk off normal alcohol,” Derek said, skipping over the bit about the raw meat. He could correct Stiles, but he didn’t bother. He nodded when Stiles asked about his amp. “Yeah, that’s fine,” Derek said. He grabbed one of the pedals and started hooking it up, figuring he had nothing else to do aside from watch Stiles he might as well hurry... whatever this was, along.

“Oh, so what? Do you make a little werewolf moonshine or something?” He laughed at the idea of Derek making a line of moonshine, finding it hilarious. It wasn’t too much longer before he got it all set up, with Derek’s help, and he looked it over for a moment to make sure it was set up right. “Okay, let me just get my stool and I’ll play you a song. If I fail a little, you can’t make fun of me. Got it?” He asked as he got to his feet.

“I won’t make fun of you,” Derek promised, standing up as well and brushing the dirt he’d got on his jeans from sitting on the floor. “And if you stop being such a smart ass I might actually teach you about things, Scott sure as hell doesn’t care.” Derek added, taking a drink from his can of soda. He made sure his amp was plugged in properly and adjusted where it was facing before pulling out a cigarette and lighting it. He glanced over at Stiles, glad that he hadn’t come over asking if he was okay again. ‘Then again,’ he wondered, ‘is this better or worse?’

“We both know that I’m probably not ever going to stop being a smart ass. It’s what I do best.” He smiled up at him before he headed outside again to grab his stool. When he came back, he set the stool down and adjusted it to the right height before he sat down. He took a slow breath and twirled one of his drumsticks between his fingers as he tried to calm his nerves. He took a few moments to calm himself before he began giving a few light test taps to his drums. Once he was ready, he began playing the drum line to Blink-182’s ‘All the Small Things’. He completely focused on playing the song, quickly becoming comfortable with it and playing it perfectly from memory. Derek entertained himself by trying to figure out what song he was playing the drum line for. He recognized it after a minute, smirking and humming along quietly - so much so that Stiles probably couldn’t hear it over the sound of himself drumming.

Stiles soon finished up, breathing a bit heavily as the sound echoed through the warehouse before it quieted again. He slowly caught his breath as he looked between the drums and Derek before slowly grinning. “So, how’d I do?” He was really eager to hear what Derek thought about it since Derek was actually a really talented person.

“Sounded like Travis Barker was actually here,” Derek said, smiling a little. “That was perfect.” He added, grazing his teeth along his lower lip. He played with the idea of having Stiles play a song so he could sing along, but he couldn’t bring himself to ask - especially since they only had drums to back him up. Stiles beamed at the compliment, all of his nerves vanishing at that moment. He couldn’t believe that someone actually told him that he was that great at something and it coming from Derek made it all the more special. He really didn’t know what to say as he thought about it more and more, actually rendered a little speechless. “Wow....” He soon got out, a wide grin still on his face, “I think that’s the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me.”

“Seriously? All the friends you have, your dad - that was the nicest thing anyone’s said to you?” Derek asked, raising an eyebrow. “You don’t have good friends.” Derek said, tapping a cigarette from his pack. He felt like he was chain-smoking a little, but it didn’t bother him so much. Being a werewolf he couldn’t do any permanent damage his lungs.

“Well, I don’t mean that in a ‘no one ever says anything nice to me’ sort of way, but more like a ‘oh hey, you just compared me to one of my idols and said I was about as good as him’ way.” He pointed out as he lightly tapped his foot on the pedal and hit his bass drum a few times. “So, thank you for that. That’s really awesome.”

“You’re welcome,” Derek said, taking a drag of his cigarette. “There’s still pizza over there if you’re still hungry, by the way.” Derek said, as he thought about it. He should put it away if Stiles wasn’t going to eat any. Or just eat it himself before it got cold.

“Oh really? Thanks.” He said softly, getting to his feet and heading over to the box so that he could take a slice. He thought about things for a moment as he chewed, plopping down onto the platform again so he could stretch his legs. “So uh, can I ask you something? How much do tattoos hurt?” Derek was a little taken aback by Stiles’ question - not pegging him as someone who wanted a tattoo. However, after working in a tattoo parlor for as long as he had in the past he shouldn’t have been that surprised. People of all types got tattoos and Stiles was no different than any of them. Derek adjusted how he was sitting on the platform, stretching back and moving the table so he could rest his back against the leg of the table he’d dragged closer to him.

“It depends on where you get it, to be honest - and your natural tolerance to pain. The one on my back, it hurt like hell. Then again I couldn’t just walk into a shop and get it.” Derek said, frowning as he flicked his ashes. “I’m assuming you’re asking because of my work?”

“So uh, how exactly did you get your tattoo if you weren’t able to get one normally?” He asked, really curious about it now that he had gone and said something about it. “But, uh, yeah, I’ve been thinking about it a lot now that I saw your work. You’re someone with experience and a tattoo so I thought it would be better to ask you about this sort of thing.”

“Being a werewolf, trying to get a tattoo the normal route just ends up healing over eventually, like dermal piercings do only about five minutes after you get it finished.” Derek began, pausing to take a drag from his cigarette.

“For someone like me or Scott to get a tattoo, the easiest and quickest way is using a blowtorch. It takes a lot of patience for the artist because it hurts like hell, and if they move you can easily screw up the tattoo - just like with normal tattoos.” Derek said. “It also means that you have to get used to using a different tool than you would normally use, and you’re restricted to one color - black.” Stiles winced at the mention of a blow torch, feeling a little nauseous as he tried to picture that.

“Oh my God, you must have really, really wanted your tattoo.” He groaned, trying not to think too hard about it. “That’s not only really disgusting but it’s also a little badass that you actually sat there and took that.” He added, glad that he wasn’t a werewolf because he didn’t think that he could manage sitting through that sort of torture for anything. Derek shrugged and tapped his ashes.

“Were you thinking of anything in particular you wanted? If you were remember, it’s something that’s going to be part of you for the rest of your life. It’s best to choose something with meaning to you, something that you’re sure you’ll not regret getting. You can sometimes do a cover up, but it’s easier to just get it right the first time.” 

“I never really have anything in mind just yet, since I just started thinking about it. What with my dislike of needles and that sort of thing.” Stiles replied as he tried to think about what sort of tattoo he would really want and where he would put it. “If anything, I would probably get something to remind me of my mom. That way I can sort of keep a small piece of her with me.” He really didn’t know why he had to come out and say that, but he didn’t really regret telling Derek something that deep and personal to him.

“That’s always a good idea, getting something to remind you about your family - where you come from. Its where I got the idea for mine,” Derek said, feeling a little obligated to tells Stiles that small bit of himself that he never really told anyone. Of course there had been plenty who’d seen it and assumed he was a Wiccan or some other form of pagan worshipper, but he’d let them believe that. He found it easier than trying to explain the real reason. Stiles of course knew most of his past already, with everything they’d been through together it would have been impossible for Stiles not to find out. Not to take away from the fact that the story of the Hale fire had become a bit of a famous piece of Beacon Hills’ history. Stiles nodded at that, glancing back over at Derek even though he couldn’t see the tattoo through Derek’s shirt.

“Yeah, that makes a lot of sense.” He said softly. He tried to think of what else he could say, bouncing his foot a little on the ground. “Is it a really big thing for your family or was there something else that made you choose it?” He was trying to think of what he really wanted and he figured that hearing a little bit about what helped Derek choose could help him narrow it down for himself. Derek took a drag from his cigarette trying to figure out a way to explain it. It came to him easily, but putting it into words was a little harder.

“Well,” he began, pausing. “Being born and raised as a werewolf, it was always a big part of my life. It was my entire life. And the symbol, the triskelion, for my family it always signified the three tiers to our kind. The alphas are the top spiral - the leaders of the pack and the strongest of our kind.” He paused to take a drag from his cigarette and tap the ashes. “The bottom two spirals are made up of Betas, the supporters of the pack. Lastly, the Omegas. The weakest of our kind, the lone wolves - the rogues.” Derek finished, thinking of Scott.

“Right now, Scott’s an Omega. He’s weaker on his own, even more than I am being a packless Alpha. It’s why I’ve been trying to get him to work together with me. He’s just not as strong on his own. None of us are.” Stiles nodded as he listened to him, pulling his knees to his chest so he could rest his chin on top of them. He found that really cool and completely interesting that the Hales had their own take on something. As he thought about the different things he said, he started to realize something.

“What about you? Can an Alpha also be an Omega?” He asked curiously because Derek didn’t quite have a pack yet and it made him wonder what happened if he never got one of his own. “And you know Scott’s going to stay really stubborn about this whole situation. I don’t know if you’ll be able to convince him with anything you say or show him.”

“An Alpha is an Alpha - that’s the only way I know to explain it,” Derek said, letting out a sigh when Stiles talked about his thoughts on Scott. “I get where Scott’s coming from - I do. But he needs to understand that being on his own is dangerous. He has no idea what he’s doing and he’s trying to save everyone. It’s going to get someone killed, maybe even himself. Maybe even you.” Derek said looking over at Stiles. “Scott wasn’t born to this, he doesn’t even want it. The longer he tries to fight me on this, the worse things are going to get for him. His relationship with Allison - he thinks that’s protecting him.” He paused to flick his cigarette to the floor and snuff it out. “The Argents won’t care if he’s clean or not, he’s a werewolf and that’s all that matters. They’ll kill him the first chance he gets, and anyone who gets in their way.” Stiles worried at his lip with his teeth, listening to everything Derek had to say. He knew that it was dangerous and that Scott had tried to kill him once before but that was different. He just needed to learn how to control himself better, but then again that was a little hard when there wasn’t that much that seemed to work with him, besides Allison.

“Is it harder being born into it?” He asked him, wondering if the fact that Derek seemed to have a lot more control was because he always dealt with it or if it was harder to control himself because of it. “I’ve tried to tell him that he needs to be careful, that they’re hunters but I think he doesn’t care as long as he has her. Maybe I’ll be able to knock some sense into him, but with him I doubt it. I’m going to keep talking about it. It seems like sometimes he seems to forget what they are. I mean, he’s hardly ever even watched any of classic werewolf movies and I’m pretty sure if he did he’d be a little more hesitant around hunters.”

“Honestly,” Derek began, “I think it’s easier having been born to it. I was raised to know how to function without needing someone to ground me, like Scott does. That’s not to say I’ve never had someone like that, but I was taught about my abilities. To use them and to control them on my own, Scott doesn’t have any of that knowledge. He’s got no clue what he’s stepped into and with the Argents? He’s throwing himself onto a pyre and the Argents are the ones holding the torch.” Derek said, his frustration leaking into his voice. “Scott has an opportunity to save himself by joining up with me. I can teach him to control himself so he doesn’t need to be so freaked out that he’ll hurt someone whenever the full moon comes around. These hunters are nothing like the ones in the movies. They don’t care about who he was before he turned. They don’t care how old he is. They don’t care that he’s never spilled blood, despite what their code says. Peter killing Kate was the tip of the iceberg. I don’t know when or where, but Scott’s going to find himself in the situation that he needs me to help him and I can’t do that if he doesn’t trust me at all.”

“Well, if you really want him in your pack, you’re gonna have to go all out to convince him.” Stiles said. “I’m keeping neutral ground on this whole subject, but I will admit that learning things from you would really help him out.” There was only so much that he could learn from the Internet and books and a large portion of it wasn’t exactly reliable. There were just so many things that he wanted to learn so that he could help his best friend and right now, Derek seemed to be the best source for it. “Yeah, I know it’s completely different than the movies but it feels like I’m stuck in some movie. I mean, look at me, I’m sitting in a warehouse having pizza and Mountain Dew with a normally very grumpy werewolf.” He stated before he started snickering. “Oh, and just so you know, I’m going to be picturing you as a little kid, shifting and running around like a feral child, for the rest of the day.” Derek let out a single mirthless laugh.

“The only way I’m going to be able to convince Scott is if I allow him to keep seeing Allison and he’s too head-over-heels to understand how dangerous that is. I know from experience how dangerous the Argents are.” Derek said, thinking about his own past relationship with Kate. He knew Stiles didn’t know about that, however, and Derek didn’t plan on him ever finding out either. “Enough of Scott though,” he sighed, getting to his feet. “I’m done trying to convince him he needs me. He’ll figure it out and when he does, I’ll be here.” He said, gesturing vaguely at the room before heading towards his room, coming back out a half-minute later with a bottle of water. He turned it over in his hands as he thought for a minute. He was getting more comfortable talking to Stiles, which was nice and really only possible because Stiles hadn’t said a word about the day before, but it still felt really weird and he had to ask, “So you really don’t mind hanging out with me? After everything?”

Stiles opened his mouth to keep talking about the subject but when Derek got up he closed it again. He knew the Argents were dangerous, but maybe if they were lucky Allison could help out in that area a little. That was a very big if though, considering just how scary Allison’s dad could be. Stiles thought about Derek’s question for a few moments, cocking his head and scratching at his buzzed hair. “Nah, I don’t really mind it too much. You’re not so bad to deal with once you get past the giant chip on your shoulder.” Derek nodded, sitting back down next to Stiles.

“If I can be honest, I just can’t wrap my head around how we got to this point. The last thing I thought when you came over yesterday was for this to be the result.” Derek said quietly, twisting the lid off of his water and taking a drink. “No offense meant or anything, but you’re nothing like I expected.” Stiles nodded as he stretched his arms above his head and moved to lie down.

“I could say the exact same thing about you. It’s actually kind of nice.” He murmured as he closed his eyes and relaxed. “You’re actually a good guy. Still scary as hell of course, but a pretty good guy.”

“You know I don’t have to be scary,” Derek said, looking over at Stiles. He let his eyes roam over Stiles before forcing them away, getting a grip over himself before he went too far. He was comfortable with Stiles, yes. But to go any farther wasn’t a concept that he was entirely willing to accept yet. He couldn’t even imagine a way that it could work - Hell, thinking of Stiles as a friend was a worrying enough concept that he was just waiting for it to blow up in his face. He would say or do something to upset Stiles eventually, then Stiles would either get hurt or he’d have to push Stiles away to prevent that from happening. He took a drink from his water, already coming up with ways to explain away what he’d said if Stiles read more into it than Derek had meant to convey. Stiles furrowed his eyebrows at his words, his heart nearly skipping a beat as looked over at Derek. He slowly smiled at that as he propped himself up in his elbows and laughed a little.

“Oh yeah? And how exactly would you go about doing that?” He asked, raising his eyebrow raised as he waited for an answer. He was caught between taking it normally and taking it as something more, but he wondered if he was crazy for even thinking it as much so he was trying to play it safe by asking something that could be played off as only a joke. Derek took a breath, thinking about his answer carefully. Stiles had set it up so he could easily cover his tracks, and he wanted to not have to. He couldn’t fight down the feeling that he was making a mistake by getting closer to Stiles than he was right now - so he carefully constructed his answer before voicing it.

“Allowing myself to not shut you out.” He said, feeling like that could easily be misconstrued, but not knowing how else to put it. “You’re the closest thing I’ve had to a friend since Laura left.” He added, scrambling to clarify. “I think if I could accept that you’re not actually doing this to get something, then maybe having you as a friend could be a good thing. Especially in trying to get Scott to understand that I’m just trying to help him.” He finished, feeling more confident that his initial answer had been cleared of any between-the-lines reading that Stiles could create. Stiles had been caught off guard by his first answer before Derek made him feel bad. He wondered if all this time Derek just really wanted to not be alone and if he just needed someone to be there for him. He sat up again, motioning to Derek so that he would look him in the eyes.

“If you need help accepting, see if I’m lying. I think I can be your friend. I wouldn’t betray you if you never betrayed me. I’m not the sort of person that turns on their friend when they need me and so I wouldn’t do the same to you. Okay?” He asked before he lay back down and took another slice of pizza. “I think I could get used to hanging around here. As dark and dreary as it seems at first, it’s actually kinda cool and comfy to hang out in.” Derek looked over at Stiles, pretty well having to with Stiles waving at him to do so. He listened to Stiles’ heart, breathed in his scent; saw the lack of dilation in his pupils - just more confirmation that Derek’s paranoia was the only thing that kept him from getting close to anyone who actually did like him.

“I can’t promise anything, you know that, right?” Derek asked, tapping his thumb against his water. “Don’t expect anything of me and I won’t of you. It seems like the best way this will work.”

“Sounds like a plan. I’ll just keep on hanging around here whenever I feel like and you won’t be able to stop me.” Stiles smiled widely at him as he lay on the platform again. “Just keep being yourself and that’s about all you need to do.” Derek nodded, not long after making up an excuse to get Stiles to leave.


	4. Bad Ideas

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A week later, Derek met Isaac, offering him the Bite. He’d gotten names of a few kids from Stiles – spending a startling amount of time with him over the week.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, Melo here! Thank you for all of your support for the fic and we hope you continue to like it! So it turns out, that we have so much written that we may end up making this a two part fic. We're still deciding, but we'll let you all know as soon as we reach a decision. And I think that you all will enjoy this weekend's update! Thanks again for supporting us!

A week later, Derek met Isaac, offering him the Bite. He’d gotten names of a few kids from Stiles – spending a startling amount of time with him over the week. He had gotten the information carefully, lying by omission about why he wanted to know. He didn’t like doing it, didn’t like feeling like he was tricking Stiles and he knew that if Stiles found out he’d get an earful at the very least, but it needed to be done. Isaac was a quiet kid, and from his own form of research (spying on the kid’s house) he discovered why. The kid’s father was an abusive dick, plain and simple. Derek felt no remorse over offering the Bite to him, giving him a way to feel confident enough to stand up for himself - to protect himself like he’d never been able to before for whatever reason. 

He had two more kids on his list so far to offer the chance for a new life - but for now he was content with Isaac. He rested in his bed at the warehouse now, wondering who to choose next. Erica would be easy to convince, as would Boyd he was sure. He was troubled, a little, only because he didn’t want to raise a pack too fast. The Argents were still a large concern and he needed the strength, but dragging the kids into it still bothered him - no matter how much it helped them.

It would be the full moon again in another two weeks, and training Isaac was going to be a task hard enough on its own. To train three newly bitten werewolves at once? A nightmare. He pulled his hands down his face, thinking about calling Isaac over to begin early.

\----------------------------------------

Stiles had been doing pretty well with hanging out with Derek and getting to know him. Since he had a lot homework and lacrosse practices lately, his time was mostly taken up so that he couldn’t go and hang out with him as often as he would have liked to. He didn’t know that Derek had changed Isaac at first until Scott had pointed out that he smelled a new wolf in their locker room one day. When Scott finally found him on the field, it wasn’t that hard to put two and two together and figured out what had happened to his classmate. He felt enraged and a little betrayed that Derek had actually used him to get information on someone to get them to join his pack.

Once practice was done and over with, he drove to Derek’s warehouse and got out of his car before he slammed the door shut behind him. He’d have to apologize to his car later, but this was more important. “Derek! Open up!” He yelled, pounding his fist against the door until it started to hurt. Derek had heard the door slam, frowning as he got out of bed and headed downstairs, hearing Stiles yelling and pounding on his door before he even got to the window to see who it was.

“All right, hang on!” Derek called, going over to the door. He pulled it open, catching the enraged expression on Stiles’ face and the anger making up most of his scent as the light breeze outside blew against his face. He frowned at him, waiting for him to say what the hell was going on. Stiles had to take a deep breath so he didn’t just punch Derek right in the mouth.

“Okay, okay, why in the Hell did you turn Isaac? I mean really?! You go and ask me about him just so you can start building your pack?! What the Hell, Derek?!” He balled his hands into fists, trying to calm himself down before he did something stupid. “I just. Jesus, Derek. Of all the things for you to do, you go and bite some random kid?” Derek sighed through his nose, wondering why he was surprised that it hadn’t taken long for Stiles to find out.

“Will you calm down and let me explain?” he asked, “Yes I want to build up my pack, but that’s not the only reason, okay?” He started, trying to get a word in his defense in before Stiles could start rounding on him again. Stiles yelled out in frustration, turning away from Derek so that he could pace around for a moment. He soon sighed and rubbed his temples before he turned back to Derek and raised his eyebrow.

“Okay, what’s your reasoning for this whole....fiasco?” Derek waited for Stiles to calm down a little before he gestured for Stiles to come in.

“I wanted to build my pack up. You’re right about that, but what I didn’t want to do is bite anyone who didn’t need it - who didn’t deserve to have it.” Derek began, running his hand through his hair. “I asked you to tell me about kids from your school who didn’t fit in because I knew that was my best chance to find people who would be willing to accept the Bite. People, whose lives are already messed up, people who could see the Bite for what it is - a gift.” He paused to shut the door after Stiles had walked in.

“You told me Isaac was a quiet kid, but there’s more to it than you know. More than probably anyone knows.” Derek said, taking a small breath as he walked over to the platform. He would have just told Stiles what Isaac’s story was, but that was Isaac’s business to tell, not his. “Bottom line I’m not just biting whoever I find, okay? I’m giving out second chances - if it happens to build my pack so if shit hits the fan with the Argents, I can clean up the mess? Even better.” Stiles stared at Derek with raised eyebrows, wondering if he was really being serious about this.

“So basically your way of going around and doing good deeds for people, is by running up to them and biting them?” He asked, slowly following him inside the warehouse.

“It’s not like that, Stiles,” Derek said, turning to face him as he sat down. “I gave Isaac a choice, I told him about the Argents. He didn’t have to say yes, but he did. I offered him a chance to be able to be strong for what’s probably the first time in a really long time for him. Can you really stand there and tell me that’s a bad thing?” Derek asked, holding his right hand in his left, balled up in a fist. Stiles thought about it for a moment and sighed a little as he realized that Derek was right about that when he put it that way. He sat down on the platform in his usual spot next to Derek and crossed his arms to rest on top of his knees.

“I guess it’s not so bad when you put it that way.” He said softly, still really conflicted about having more werewolves running around. “I just want you to be really careful. You never know what someone is capable of when they get power out of nowhere.” Derek nodded.

“Which was why before you showed up all pissed off, I was about to call him to see when he wanted to start learning.” Derek said, looking over at Stiles. He was glad that Stiles had calmed down, but he couldn’t stop feeling like it still wasn’t going to end there. He needed more to his pack than just Isaac and he didn’t want to go through this every single time. “I’m sorry that I used you, I am. I just don’t know how else to handle this. I can’t take on the Argents on my own and Scott’s never going to help me. I’m being as careful as I can be.” Stiles let out another sigh and slowly nodded as he thought about Derek’s reasoning for it. He was right about that, he wouldn’t be able to fight the Argents by himself. Stiles wasn’t even sure if he could fully stand a chance against them alone.

“Fine, fine. I accept your apology.” He mumbled, looking up at him for a moment. “But just so you know, next time I might have to punch you in the face. Even if I break my hand in the process of doing it.” He added, slowly smiling a little at him.

“You’re going to have to clarify what you mean by next time.” Derek said, not sure if he meant next time he bit someone - which might or might not be soon - or next time he used Stiles, which he didn’t plan on doing again unless he had to.

“Next time you make me this angry.” He said softly, closing his eyes and making sure that he really was calmed down. “So hopefully it doesn’t get to this extent again, because I’m not really someone that goes around punching people.”

“I don’t know,” Derek said, looking over at Stiles, smirking. “It was kind of awesome seeing you pissed off like that.” He said, mentally kicking himself as he realized how that sounded after it had already come out of his mouth. Stiles’ eyes widened a little at Derek’s words before a slow mischievous grin appeared on his face.

“Oh really? Well, despite how awesome it was, we’re going to not make a habit of it because I want to still have a healthy heart when I’m like fifty, okay?” He asked with a laugh.

“I - yeah, okay,” Derek said, clenching his jaw as he restrained a smile. He glanced over at Stiles once he’d regained control over his facial muscles. “So, did you come over just to yell at me or... what do you want to do?” Derek asked, a mantra of ‘stupid’ directed at himself forming in his head. He legitimately had no idea what he was doing and he was flipping out a little in his head. Stiles seriously screwed with his brain, every time he was over and being so unconfidently screwed was definitely not something Derek was used to.

“Mostly I came over to yell at you... Since it went a lot better than I thought it would, I have no idea what to do now.” Stiles replied, trying to think of what in the world he was supposed to do now that he didn’t punch Derek and things were calm again. He soon remembered one thing that he could do and grinned as he motioned for Derek to turn and face him.

“Okay, hold your hand out and close your eyes. I swear to God, if you do open your eyes before I say so...I don’t actually know what I will do.” He mumbled, losing his train of thought quickly. “You probably just won’t get your gift.” Derek quirked an eyebrow up, turning his head to look directly at Stiles.

“Um... okay?” Derek said, turning and crossing his legs in front of him as he tentatively stretched out his right hand towards Stiles. As opposed to closing his eyes though, he just turned his head away, mentally panicking. _‘A gift, are you kidding me? This is bad, this is really bad.’_ Derek closed his hand, feeling a little more comfortable with this awkward as hell situation by doing so.

Stiles reached into his backpack and rummaged through it until he found the gift he had made for Derek. He had made a bracelet that had three black leather bangles to come around the wrist before ending with a clasp to keep the three pieces together. The middle bangle was a braided band of leather, but the other two bands were strips of leather tied to a different charm. The first was in the shape of a wolf’s head while the other was the very triskelion on Derek’s back. Stiles was never going to admit how long it took him to make this bracelet, but as long as Derek liked it, it was completely worth it. Once he fastened it around Derek’s wrist and made sure that it fit right, he pulled his hands away and grinned.

“Okay, you can look at it. Just try not to judge me too hard about it if you don’t like it.” Derek brought his hand in front of him as he turned his head back. He saw what it was, the triskelion charm, the wolf, and he couldn’t take a breath for a few seconds and when he did it was sharp and quick. Derek kept his mouth closed in order to avoid sputtering out gibberish. It was... he loved it, but he was so startled and touched by the gesture that he couldn’t say it. He ran his fingers over the cords and the charms, a small smile forming on his lips. Stiles waited, slowly grinning as he watched him. “Okay, so judging by that tiny little smile on your face, I’m going to say that I did a pretty good job. Or it’s one of those polite smiles, in which case I’m probably going to keep being anxious about the whole thing. If you want, I can remake it and put something else on it.”

“No,” Derek said, looking up at Stiles and ending up wincing because of how forcefully it had come out. Stiles jumped a little at the sound of Derek’s voice before he relaxed. “No, it’s...” Derek began, a lot softer this time as he looked back down at the bracelet. He brushed his thumb over the charms again, sighing through his nose. “I’m just not used to this kind of thing... I don’t really know what to say.”

“Oh, no problem then. I’m glad that you like it.” Stiles said with a light laugh. “You don’t have to say anything really, just make sure you keep it. Do we have a deal?”

“Yeah,” he said, still not taking his eyes off of the bracelet until he realized he’d been staring at it for a solid minute. He looked over at Stiles, “I feel like I should give you something, but the only thing I can think of is not charging you if you ever decide on that tattoo.” Derek said. He was hoping Stiles would pick something soon because his excuse to not touch Stiles anymore was getting weak after how much time they’d been spending together. Stiles grinned up at him and nodded.

“It’s a deal then. When I come up with what I want for a tattoo, I’ll come straight to you and we’ll go from there. On the condition that I get to watch you sketch it out. Those are my terms.” He stated, really just wanting to see Derek drawing.

“I guess I can make that compromise,” Derek said, pulling his cigarettes and lighter from his pocket. He tucked one between his lips and thought a second before offering the pack out to Stiles. “I won’t be offended if you say no. I can heal, you can’t.” He said, the cigarette in his lips moving as he talked. Stiles thought about it for a few moments, weighing the pros and cons of it. Then again he did have the occasional night with Scott when the two of them threw back a couple drinks, just between the two of them.

“Eh, one won’t hurt.” He replied with a shrug as he took the offering and put it between his lips as he watched Derek. “Do you want to light me up?” He asked with a grin. Derek tossed his pack on the table behind them, lighting up his cigarette before moving the lighter to the end of Stiles’ cigarette. He couldn’t stop the grin that spread on his face as he came up with a way to flirt, and torture Stiles which would be hilarious - unless of course Stiles choked on the smoke, which was a possibility.

“Of course, _because I light all my bitches cigarettes._ ” he said, an attempt at a flirtatious joke which was probably a bad idea to begin with. Stiles leaned forwards so that he could light it before he heard what Derek had to say about it. He sucked in a breath in surprise, unfortunately so strongly that he ended up sucking his cigarette in with it. The teenager quickly began to gag and choke on the cigarette before he did one of the most embarrassing things he would probably ever do in his entire life. He swallowed the damn thing. Stiles paled at the realization before he began gagging again at the taste of the leftover tobacco in his mouth.

Derek was frozen in embarrassment until he realized that Stiles was choking. He mentally panicked for a couple of seconds longer before he actually remembered he was supposed to _do_ something to stop Stiles from choking. “Fuck, Stiles, come on, on your feet,” he said as he got up, grabbing Stiles under his arms to help him up. Once Stiles was on his feet he went ahead and wrapped his arms around Stiles chest, quickly finding the bottom of Stiles’ sternum and placing his fist two finger-widths down. He pulled his fist towards him, repeating the process. Stiles gagged as Derek lifted him up like he was nothing before he began choking even harder when his back was pressed flush against Derek’s chest. He wheezed and flailed his arms, unable to tell if his face was turning red from the choking or if it was coming from the very close werewolf contact. When he coughed up the cigarette, he quickly took in deep breaths of air and spat out any of the residue left in his mouth from it. Derek immediately loosened his grip on Stiles, but didn’t move his hands away entirely. He rested his hands on Stiles’ back. “Oh my God, Stiles. I am so fucking sorry. Are you okay? Jesus,” Derek said, his voice sounding as shaky as the rest of him felt. ‘Idiot!’ he mentally shouted at himself.

When Stiles finally caught his breath and his face stayed red, he pulled the hood of his jacket over his head and sat down on the ground as he tried his best to hide his face and his shame. “Oh my God, that did _not_ just happen. That was the grossest thing I have _ever_ tasted in my life.” He mumbled, covering his face with his hands. “Who the hell even chokes on a cigarette...?”

Derek didn’t bother to cover up his audible sigh of relief, “I am so sorry, I just.. It’s my fault, I was trying to be funny and then you started choking and...” Derek sat down next to Stiles, reaching out and hesitating, but placing his hand on Stiles’ shoulder. He didn’t know how much pain Stiles was still in, but he felt so terrible about what had just happened that he couldn’t help it when touched him again to take away his pain, when he realized there wasn’t any he dropped his hand to his side.

“No...No, not your fault entirely. I could have spit it out but well, apparently my body decided that was out of the question but whatever.” He replied. He was dying from how mortified he felt. When he felt his face cool, he slowly pulled his hood back down and looked up at Derek. “So uh...Can we possibly try that again? Preferably without the swallowing and choking.” He stated before realizing just how wrong that probably sounded. Derek looked at Stiles, incredulous that after that horrifying first experience trying to smoke that he still wanted to try again. He let out a laugh, shaking his head.

“You either really want to impress me or you’ve got a serious death wish.” He said, but he still got up to grab his cigarette pack off of the table and handed it to Stiles. He looked around on the floor, finally spying where his cigarette had rolled to after he’d dropped it and picked it up, brushing off the dust from the filter and placing it back in his lips.

“You know what they say, if at first you don’t choke to death, keep on trying. Or that’s probably what the first person who ever gave a blowjob told themselves.” He said before pausing. Why the hell was he thinking about that at a time like this? Oh God, he was going to find himself the nearest grave and bury himself as soon as he left Derek’s place. 

“You light it this time,” He said, digging out his lighter and handing it over to Stiles. Stiles looked really hesitant about it but he tried to shrug it off. He took the lighter with a shaky hand as he tried to resist the urge to repeatedly punch himself in the face for the word vomit that seemed to keep on coming.

“Can do.” He replied before he lit the cigarette and handed his lighter back to him. Derek sat down next to Stiles as he took back his lighter, putting it back into his pocket. He ducked his head towards his chest, running his cigarette free hand through the back of his hair.

“So, now that’s over...” Derek said with a sigh, looking over at Stiles. He didn’t really have any words he could come up with at the sight of Stiles with a lit cigarette between his lips. He took a drag from his own cigarette, taking it from his lips before inhaling and puffing the smoke out through his lips, aiming it away from Stiles’ face out of habit. Stiles tilted his head back and slowly exhaled, watching the smoke leave his lips before he looked back over at Derek and smiled widely at him.

“So, here’s a question for you. Do I look attractive when I smoke? I feel like I’m somewhere up there with how most celebrities look when they do it.” He snickered a little before he took another drag of it. Derek waited until Stiles had exhaled his drag before answering, not wanting a repeat of a couple minutes ago. The longer he thought about it, the less he was caring about giving into what he wanted, which freaked him out almost as much as the fact that he _wanted_ Stiles. He knew upfront what he’d need out of it, however - no attachments, that’s it. Anything else could be discussed as it came up. He mentally kicked himself for even letting himself get that far without even answering Stiles yet. Derek tapped his ashes on the floor. Stiles watched Derek with a wide smile on his face as he awaited his answer, wondering what he would even come up with. If things went right, he would probably say a cheesy pick up line or whatever came to mind first.

“Stiles, you look attractive... all the time.” Derek finally said and Stiles hadn’t been expecting that answer at all and sputtered a little, thankful that his cigarette wasn’t in his mouth this time.

“Well, uh....Thank you. Just so you know, you actually look really hot when you smoke. Like irresistibly hot.” He said casually, trying to act like he was talking about the weather and not the fact that he was confessing to the Hale that he found him very attractive. He took another drag, trying to focus on that and not the possible chance that he could get kicked out for saying that.

“Just when I smoke?” Derek asked, teasing. He grinned, shaking his head. “Feeling a little under-complimented here Stilinski.” He said with mock disappointment, placing his cigarette between his lips and leaning back on his elbows. As he did, he made a mental note to invest in a couch in the very near future. Stiles groaned at that, looking around the large room so that he didn’t have to look at Derek.

“Well, uh, no. Not just when you smoke. More like all the time.” He replied softly.

“That’s better,” Derek said with a laugh, going ahead and laying down completely, taking a drag from his cigarette and raising his arm over his head to tap the ashes off.

“So,” Derek started, pausing to take a drag and breathe it out. “I’m just going to be upfront with asking - what is your opinion on us?”

“Uh...” Stiles paused, trying to think of what he could say that would be a good enough answer. “Well, it depends. I mean, I really like being like this with you, just hanging out and everything...but then I’m also really attracted to you.” He said honestly.

Derek nodded, taking a long drag, snuffing out his cigarette on the floor and setting the filter on the table after it went out, sitting up again and looking over at Stiles. “I had an idea, if you want to hear it.” Derek said, resting his forearms on his knees.

“Oh really? And what sort of idea is that?” Stiles asked curiously, slowly working on finishing up his own cigarette as he watched the Alpha werewolf.

‘Fuck buddies’ was the first descriptor for it that popped into Derek’s head, but he didn’t just want to come out and say that, despite having decided to let go of his reservations partially. “The idea that we can do this, and other things that don’t require us to be clothed.” Derek said, shrugging.


	5. Boundaries

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stiles’ had to take a few long moments to make sure that Derek really said what he had thought he had. He blinked slowly, furrowing his eyebrows as he tried to process it before he began to nod quickly.

Stiles’ had to take a few long moments to make sure that Derek really said what he had thought he had. He blinked slowly, furrowing his eyebrows as he tried to process it before he began to nod quickly. He didn’t trust himself to speak, knowing that something really stupid was begging to come out. Derek felt a little nervousness rise up from the pit of his stomach until Stiles started nodding at which point it settled back down, a grin spreading across his lips. “Okay,” he said, happily. Not caring so much about things was working out great for him so far, so he turned so he was facing Stiles a bit more directly. “I’m gonna kiss you now, if that’s okay.” Stiles swallowed hard at the thought of being kissed by Derek and he began to nod quickly again.

“Y-Yeah, that’s okay. More than okay.” He said softly. Derek smirked, raising his right hand to brush against Stiles’ neck, resting his hand on the back of his neck. Stiles felt his heart pound wildly in his chest as he watched Derek and felt goose bumps prickle up all over his arms when he felt Derek’s hand on his neck.

“You’re really cute when you’re flustered,” Derek murmured, leaning in close. He flicked his eyes a couple times between Stiles’ lips and his eyes, right before pressing his lips against his. When Derek kissed him, Stiles felt like he had completely forgotten how to breathe right. He slowly took a breath through his nose, leaning forwards a little so that he could kiss him back. Derek kept the kiss quick and chaste, except for the gentle pull he gave to Stiles’ lower lip with his teeth. He pulled away after, licking Stiles’ lower lip with a quick swipe. Derek was happy with how it had gone, but really he had no idea how to proceed without first discussing boundaries. Stiles looked a little dazed when Derek pulled away, blinking slowly as he stared at the older man and tried to let his brain process that kiss. He soon slowly smiled widely and placed his hand on the back of Derek’s head so that he could kiss him again. He took the chance to run his fingers through Derek’s hair, glad that he had finally gotten the chance to do that and that it felt exactly how he imagined it. Derek put his hand on Stiles’ chest, applying just enough pressure so that Stiles knew to stop.

“Before we continue, I think we need to set up some ground rules.” He said slowly, enunciating every word. He really didn’t want to stop, the feeling of Stiles fingers running through his hair making the hairs on his arms stand on end. “I - We,” he corrected, “need to place some boundaries.”

“Mmmm.” Stiles nodded slowly, continuing to run his fingers through Derek’s hair as he listened to him. “What kind of boundaries were you thinking of exactly?” He slowly smiled, shamelessly staring at Derek’s mouth the entire time.

“Well, first off, no one can know. If the wrong people found out - you’d be in more danger than you are just because of being friends with Scott and me.” Derek began. “Second, I don’t know what you’re into - I don’t want to end up going to try something and turning you off so if you don’t like something you need to tell me immediately. This needs to be a communicative thing.” He said and paused to take a calming breath. “Lastly, but most importantly, this can’t be more than what it is. No relationship, no love, none of that crap - just what we have already, with the added benefit of getting laid.” He locked his eyes on Stiles’, “Can you manage all that?”

“For rule one, don’t worry I’m not going to tell anyone anything, no worries. Rule number two, no problem. We can run through things and find out what we both like. But uh, I’m a little lacking in the whole experience area so mostly it will be me experimenting.” Stiles replied before nodding at his final demand. “And I can do your third rule no problem. So now that we’ve got everything set, what are we going to do now?” He slowly grinned, leaning forwards to brush his lips against his jaw. Derek let a slow breath through his nose.

“Well, since I know pretty well what I like - maybe we can just try out some simple stuff, work from there.” Derek said, slipping his eyes closed as Stiles kissed his jaw. “That’s - yeah, okay,” he said. “Definitely more of that,” he muttered.

“Mmmm.” Stiles slowly grinned, kissing over his jaw softly for him. “Like this?” He asked as he ran his fingers through his hair again so that he could keep his hand busy. “If you me about some of the things that you’re into, I can tell you now which things I wanna try out.” Derek hummed in his throat, having to clear it because he couldn’t just not answer Stiles. He’d suggested communication, but God damn if Stiles wasn’t being a distraction right now.

“Biting,” he began, speaking through his teeth as he worked his jaw tight a few times. “Scratching, dominance play, marking... I don’t have many things that are off the table,” Derek breathed out, clenching his fingers around Stiles’ shirt. Stiles shivered a little, feeling arousal pool in his abdomen at everything Derek had to say.

“Wow, okay, yeah. All of that sounds really, really good.” Stiles groaned, pulling away for a moment so that he could look at Derek better. He slowly grinned, proud to see how Derek was reacting to the things he did. He slowly moved to the other side, nipping lightly every now and again. Derek growled, getting up so he could position himself over Stiles.

“Enough,” Derek said. He liked where this was headed, but he also didn’t want to do it on hard, cold concrete. “Come on, I don’t want to do this here.”

Stiles laughed at that and nodded. “Sounds fair enough.” He said softly, getting to his feet before he took Derek’s hand. It was nice to see that he was getting Derek really excited for this. Derek glanced at Stiles before leading him to his bedroom. It was surreal how they’d gone from frenemies, to friends, and now Derek was leading him for their first fuck-buddies experience. The whole thing sounded like a bad porno.

“Sorry about the clutter,” Derek said as they walked in, letting go of Stiles’ hand so he could move the box he’d left on his bed to... Well, anywhere else. Stiles looked around Derek’s bedroom, slowly smiling to himself as he cocked his head. “It’s not that bad. I don’t mind it.” He replied, glancing back at him before he sat down in his bed. “It’s kind of weird to be in your bedroom, but well...If things go well I’ll probably be in here a lot right?” He asked with a nervous laugh as he took his jacket off and set it on the floor for now. Derek sat down the box and turned to Stiles.

“Definitely,” Derek said, though in his mind he was thinking something more along the lines of, ‘if this goes well I might not let you leave after.’ Stiles smiled wider at that and nodded as he kicked his sneakers off before he looked up at Derek again.

“So, uh, are you going to just stand over there or are you going to come make out with me?”

“Shut up, Stiles,” Derek replied, a grin on his lips as he shook his head. He did as asked, however, walking over and moving Stiles’ sneakers so he could kneel down in front of him. Even with the mattress giving him a bit of height, Derek was still just a hair taller. Then again the mattress was sitting on the floor, the bed frame he’d bought still boxed away and leaning against a wall somewhere in the room.

“You could make me.” He replied with a shrug of his shoulders. Stiles grinned as he watched Derek, lightly biting his lower lip. It was kind of hot to see Derek kneeling for him. Derek rested his hands on either side of Stiles’ waist, leaning forward to close the distance between their mouths. Stiles moved his arms around Derek’s neck, pulling him closer to his body. He ran his tongue along his lower lip slowly before he gently nipped at it. Derek hummed into Stiles’ mouth, pulling away just long enough to turn his mouth’s attention to Stiles’ neck.

“I’m certainly endeavoring to.” Derek finally replied, kissing against Stiles’ neck once, twice, and then gently grazing his teeth along the soft skin there. Stiles bit his lip and ran his fingers through his hair as he tilted his head to give him better access to his neck.

“If you really want to, maybe one of these times you can try tying me up. It sounds kinda fun.” He said softly, struggling to focus correctly. “Oh my god, why does that feel so amazing? Uh....You can bite me there if you want. It sounds like a good idea.”

“Mmmm, and your excuse to everyone why you have a giant imprint of someone’s teeth on your neck would be what exactly?” Derek asked, stopping just long enough to ask that before returning to lightly nip at Stiles’ neck. “As for tying you down,” he added, blindly locating Stiles’ hands and pinning them down to the bed. “I think we’ll definitely mark that down on the list.”

“Uh, then you can bite me places I can cover it. Which basically means I want you to bite me almost everywhere.” Stiles mumbled, trying to keep himself focused. “On the shoulder is good though.” He added, really liking the feeling of Derek pinning his hands down. “And maybe if we both really like the whole tying up thing, maybe we’ll move on to a pair of handcuffs.” He shrugged a little. Derek hummed as an answer, lacing his fingers between Stiles’, lowering their hands (Derek’s right and Stiles’ leftt) so that he could move aside the neckline of Stiles’ shirt, exposing his shoulder. He kissed a trail to the top of Stiles’ shoulder, just a few inches from the base of his neck.

Stiles smiled widely when Derek took his hand, shivering at each of his kisses. Derek latched his mouth on the spot he’d chosen, licking at the skin as he pulled it into his mouth, sucking a little before finally biting down. He bit gently, not knowing how big Stiles’ tolerance to pain was. Stiles could feel the hair on the back of his neck stand up as it sent chills down his spine and throughout his body. He knew that if this kept up, he would end up addicted to Derek but he had no problems with it. “You can...Uh, bite harder. I’m totally fine with that. If you’re into marking, then you can leave as many marks as you want on me.” Derek responded by biting harder, just enough that the mark would probably still be there for a few days after. Stiles let out a moan, tilting his head back as he gripped Derek’s hand tighter.

“Oh, God, Derek.” He groaned out, squirming a little as he felt the feeling of his tongue. “I just...Oh my God...” He couldn’t think of anything that he could say to express just how awesome that felt. Derek stayed like that for a minute, as he was biting he adjusted where he was kneeling, the hard floor getting to his knees. He knocked Stiles’ feet apart, letting go of his neck, exhaling through his mouth as he ran his tongue along the imprint. He rested his knees on the edge of the mattress as he shifted Stiles back a few inches. “The shirt, lose it.” He directed. Stiles quickly nodded, working on getting his shirt off as fast as he could. Stiles slowly grinned as he looked him over, moving his arms around his shoulders to pull him close so that he could kiss him again as they lay down together.

“You’re so not allowed to wear hoodies anymore,” Derek said with a grin, taking in the sight of Stiles’ chest. He let their mouths crash together, still being gentle enough that he didn’t hurt Stiles when he did, shoving one hand under Stiles’ neck to bring him off the bed a little, twisting over so Stiles was on top of him now, running his other hand down Stiles’ spine and wiggling his fingers down the back of Stiles’ jeans.

Stiles couldn’t help but laugh at that. “Maybe I’ll stop wearing them around you.” He said softly, shrugging his shoulders as he made himself comfortable on his chest. “If it gets this sort of reaction out of you.” He laughed a little before he leaned down to kiss his neck. “Do you like being bitten?” He asked him curiously, nipping at his skin before he ran his tongue along it lightly.

“Yeah,” Derek managed, goose bumps forming on his arms immediately. Being bitten was seriously his strongest turn on. He pressed his hand against the back of Stiles’ neck, encouragement for him to bite pretty much as hard as he wanted. Stiles slowly grinned, nuzzling against his neck before he bit down. He didn’t do it too hard at first, not wanting to risk hurting him just in case. He slowly applied more pressure, listening closely to how he sounded just in case. Derek gripped at Stiles’ back, turning his head so that Stiles had more access, sucking in a breath between his teeth. God damn, Stiles could take a hint. His back arched a little, shifting his hips under Stiles’ weight. Stiles pulled away and ran his tongue over the imprint slowly like Derek had down before to him.

“You really do like it.” He snickered before he bit down on his shoulder. He started out gentle again before he slowly began to bite harder as he had done before.

“I told y- _fuh-hucking Christ,_ ” Derek breathed, his eyes squeezing shut tightly. Derek started to rotate his hips up, pressing against Stiles weight. Derek knew Stiles was cheeky, he hadn’t even thought about that cheekiness spilling into bedroom matters. Not that he cared of course, it was benefiting him to all Hell at the moment. Stiles let out a groan at the sound of Derek swearing and rocked his hips down against Derek’s as he kissed over his collarbone gently.

“Oh my God, never stop swearing when we’re in bed.” He said softly, tracing his side before he lightly ran his nails down his skin. Derek squirmed under Stiles’ touch, hips stilling as he bit back a laugh - the touch down his side tickling him until Stiles started to scratch instead.

“Just don’t do that again and I’ll do whatever the hell you want,” Derek said, “Not the scratching, that was good, but the... yeah,” he said, doing the same motion to Stiles that he had to Derek to get across his point without blatantly coming out and saying, ‘hey, I’m ticklish there.’ Stiles slowly grinned as he noticed Derek’s reaction to it, cocking his head as his smile continued to grow.

“Oh is that so?” He asked, sitting up straighter before he cracked his knuckles. “That means only one thing can come out of this...” He paused for effect before he began to tickle Derek’s sides as much as he could. Derek clamped his jaw shut, his sides tightening up until he grabbed Stiles’ wrists and pulled him closer.

“No,” he said firmly, looking at Stiles seriously. He shook his head slowly, loosening his grip just a little. “Or I just might find a way tie you up right now.” He added, bringing Stiles’ wrists around behind his back as he sat up, faces inches away, but still apart. “Because your form of punishment...” He continued, using his forearms to press Stiles’ hips forward repeatedly as he talked. “If you try that again, will be me getting you so fucking close that you’re going to beg me to make you come,” he said, his voice low and soft as he leaned his lips to Stiles’ neck, pressing a kiss before angling his mouth towards Stiles ear. “And you know what I’m gonna say to that?” He asked, using his tongue to move Stiles’ earlobe so he could get it between his teeth, biting gently as he waited for Stiles to ask.

Stiles had been so determined to make Derek laugh and cursed when Derek grabbed his wrists, still wiggling his fingers to try and get his sides before they were too far. He groaned a little and began to squirm in his grasp, about to complain about it before he heard what Derek had to say about that. Derek’s threat instantly got him to stop moving and all he could do was drop his jaw and get a dazed and shocked look on his face as just about every single coherent thought in his brain went right out the window. “I, uh, _holy_ shit. Uh.....” He stammered and tried to say something coherent but only managed a jumbled string of words. His eyes rolled back a little at the feeling of Derek’s tongue on his ear and he quickly closed his eyes as he tried to not lose control of himself right then and there. “What would you say?” He finally asked, managing to get four simple words out with just about all of the self control that he had left. Derek laughed softly against Stiles’ neck, taking a short breath before whispering into Stiles’ ear, “No.” He lay back down, letting Stiles do whatever he wanted. He grinned up at him, holding Stiles’ wrists still, just enough out of the reach of his sides. “So, plan on trying that again?” He asked, teasing him.

Stiles thought about it, looking between Derek’s face and back down at his stomach before he slowly went back and forth. “Uh...” He trailed off, lightly biting his lip as he tried to think of it. “Nah, not right now anyways.” He replied, bending down so that he could bite him hard on the shoulder he hadn’t marked yet. Derek glared at him, not satisfied with that answer. At least he wasn’t going to try it again now though, and - well, all thoughts ended when Stiles bit down ridiculously hard.

“Fuck,” he swore, forcing the word quickly out of his mouth, ending up with it coming out like a breathy moan. His hands reflexively tightened against Stiles’ wrists, his feet pressing down against the mattress as he brought his hips up. He let go of Stiles’ wrists, grabbing Stiles’ hips and pressing his fingertips against his jeans. Stiles absolutely loved Derek’s reaction, completely thrilled out of his mind that he was driving him wild. He ran his tongue over the mark before he moved just a little away from the bite and did it again before pulling away and sitting up.

“So, are we going to get out of these jeans or are you more into rutting against me?” He teased lightly, running his fingers through his hair. “Also, are you into Doggy style or do you do other positions?” He struggled to keep a straight face but it didn’t work as he grinned and started to laugh. Derek relaxed into the mattress, closing his eyes and sighing loudly through his nose.

“You’re a fucking asshole,” Derek grumbled at Stiles’ question. He more firmly grasped Stiles’ hips, moving Stiles off of his hips so he could get up. He worked at unbuttoning his jeans, looking over at Stiles. “I don’t really have a particular position, to answer your question. Whatever you think you’d like, we can try it. If you don’t like it, we can change it up. It’s not a big deal.” Derek said as he stripped off his jeans. He left his boxers on for now as he sat back down, not really seeing the point in getting completely naked until Stiles made up his mind.

“Well uh, I don’t really have a preferred position.” Stiles replied, moving to lay on his back so he could undo his jeans and lift his hips so he could pull them down and kick them off the bed. “I kind of like, honestly have never done this before so I’m up for whatever.” He replied, tugging at the waistband of his Batman boxer briefs. He slowly grinned, sitting up and moving so that he could climb onto Derek’s lap and straddle his hips. “So uh, if I can convince you, I think you should draw me like one of your French girls at some point.” Derek was still reeling a little bit from the fact that Stiles was a god damned virgin. He was taken aback, and didn’t really recover until after Stiles was climbing onto his lap. He swallowed as Stiles started talking, raising both eyebrows.

“Did you seriously just Titanic quote me?” He asked, lowering one of his eyebrows so one was still cocked upwards. He’d yet to notice Stiles’ Batman underwear, at least until he rolled his eyes, closing them and thumping his head against Stiles’ sternum, opening them up to see the underwear. He bit his tongue to refrain from commenting, lifting his head back up to look at Stiles. “Between that and your underwear and the fact that you’re a virgin, I don’t know what to say right now.”

“Well, considering you’re a sexy artist, it would have been terrible of me to not quote Titanic to you.” He replied with a shrug, finding that logic completely normal. He laughed when Derek dropped his head on his chest, taking the chance to rub his back and trace his tattoo. “Well what do you want me say? Be gentle with me, it’s my first time?” He asked as he started to laugh again. “But you don’t really have to say anything. We can just make out and start touching each other.”

“Fair enough,” Derek said smirking as he did. “Though, I’d feel more comfortable if I tell you how I’d like to do this and you tell me if it’s okay?” Derek asked, lacing his fingers together as he wrapped his arms around Stiles’ back, “And we should probably set your safe word. Not that you’ll need one for this time, but just on the off chance.” Derek added quickly.

“Mmmm.” He nodded, resting their foreheads together. “Oooh a safe word? I can’t wait to get to the kinky stuff.” He snickered before he quickly pecked his lips. “Okay, back to being serious, that all sounds good. I’m glad that you have a plan.”

Derek laughed, “One thing at a time.” Derek said after Stiles quickly kissed him. “Do me a favor and close your eyes, okay?” He said, waiting for Stiles to do so.

“Maybe you should blindfold me. I’m not very good at waiting for surprises.” He joked before he gave an over exaggerated sigh and closed his eyes.

“It’s not a surprise,” Derek said with exaggerated patience. “Now, I want you to focus on my voice for a second. Just listen to it, and when I say so, tell me the first word that comes into your mind. Try and keep it a short word.” He said and waited a moment to give Stiles time. “What’s your word?” He asked.

Stiles thought about it, tracing Derek’s side as he finally came up with a word. “Sugar? I don’t know. First thing to come to mind.” He said softly, opening his eyes again.

Derek nodded, “That’s perfectly fine. Now, remember that - okay? That’s going to be your safe word, at least for this time. If you think of a better one that you like more, that’s fine. Just remember that one for now.” Derek said. “As far as my plan,” he said, quickly moving on. He wasn’t losing his hard on, but he did want to wrap this up before he did. “I was thinking that I could just take care of you right now, since this is your first time. Hands or mouth, it’s up to you,” He said, wanting to hit himself for how inappropriately blunt that sounded, but it was already out of his mouth. “I have a second option, if you don’t want to do that.”

Stiles furrowed his eyebrows at that, thinking about what he wanted. “Uh, well...what would you do with the first option? Also, what’s the second option? I just wanna know what all my choices are, just in case.” He said softly, not minding Derek’s ideas anyways.

“To put it simply? A blow job or hand job.” He said, raising a hand to scratch the back of his neck. “Though if you’re looking for full on losing your V-card, the second option would be... well, doggy-style - with a little fingering beforehand.” He said, hating that word only because Stiles had laughed at it earlier, knowing he was thinking about the werewolf thing. He slowly grinned at that, snickering as he buried his face in Derek’s neck.

“I think you mean to say ‘wolfy style’ but uh, yeah. I think I can handle the second option. Go big or go home.” He replied as he nipped at his skin.

“All right,” Derek said, cupping Stiles’ chin in his hand. “I have to grab something real fast, but when I come back I want you naked and lying down on your stomach. Okay?” He asked, looking Stiles in his eyes. Stiles nodded at that, looking back into his eyes before he quickly pecked his lips again.

“Alright, I think I can do that for you.” He smiled widely at him.

“Good boy,” Derek said with a grin, giving Stiles’ ass a loud smack before getting up. Stiles let out a yelp at the smack, canting his hips away from his hand. “One minute, max,” Derek said, walking out of his room. He darted across the main room as soon as he was out of Stiles’ sight, heading for the bathroom. From there he grabbed his lube, making sure to turn out the lights to at least make it appear like he wasn’t home - even though if anyone else did surprise him by showing up now it would be kind of hard to not think he was with Stiles’ Jeep parked next to his car. He walked back, checking the warehouse door before heading back towards his room.

“I’m counting the seconds!” Stiles yelled back to him as he climbed off of the bed and stripped himself of his underwear. He had to take deep breaths, unable to believe that this was really finally happening. He rubbed his hands together and gave himself a little pep talk before he dropped back onto the mattress. Once he was comfortable, he lay down on his stomach and closed his eyes as he waited for his return.

Derek stepped back into his room, humming happily as he saw that Stiles had actually done as he’d asked. Stiles felt his nerves kicking up again the moment Derek came back and swallowed hard as he closed his eyes so he could try to calm them down. Derek stepped over to the bed, sitting on the edge of it and taking the spare pillow and directing Stiles to place it under his hips as he moved from where he’d sat down to sit between Stiles’ legs. He put some of the lube on the tips of his right hand’s fingers, waiting until Stiles had seemed settled and also waiting until he was sure the lube wasn’t going to be cold as hell. “Ready?” Derek asked, running his free hand along Stiles’ back, admiring how soft Stiles’ skin was.

“Mmhmm.” Stiles nodded, really liking how slow Derek was going with him. He figured Derek would probably kill him though if he said anything about him being sweet, so he kept it to himself. “As ready as I’ll ever be.” He said softly, glancing back at him before he smiled a little. Derek waited just a little bit longer, pressing a few kisses down Stiles’ back. He continued with the kisses along Stiles’ spine.

“Shift up onto your knees for me.” Derek directed, leaning away from Stiles’ back so he could do so. He never stopped touching Stiles’ skin, running his hand down his side, letting it slide past Stiles’ hips and down his thigh. Once Stiles had moved, he adjusted his legs underneath himself, leaning forward again and pressing his lips against Stiles’ shoulder blades as he gently spread Stiles’ cheeks with his left hand. He stroked his right hand’s pointer finger against Stiles’ hole, making sure that it was coated at least a little before teasing his finger against it a little harder. Stiles squirmed a little at the feeling, exhaling shakily before he closed his eyes for a moment and squirmed a little. He soon let out a light gasp, balling his hands into loose fists. He soon took to dropping his head down onto the bed so he could muffle his sounds against the mattress and keep the noises to himself. It wasn’t long before he shifted his hips and tried to move back against his hand in an attempt to get more from him.

“Don’t do that,” Derek said softly, allowing Stiles’ clear request for him to stop teasing, pressing his finger in slowly, wanting to ease him open. “When I fuck someone,” Derek continued, kissing The back of Stiles’ neck as he repositioned himself, his crotch brushing against the back of his hand as he kept pressing his finger in a little bit at a time. “I like to hear what I’m doing to them. I like to hear the sounds that force their way out of their lungs as I fuck them.” He murmured, brushing the tip of his finger against the top of Stiles’ inside, working his finger out just a little before pressing it back in. Stiles shook his head quickly, letting out a muffled moan as he shifted his hips a little at the feeling of the intrusion. He whimpered a little before he slowly groaned a little as he thought about Derek’s words. He slowly began to move his hips with his finger and reached his hand back so that he could take Derek’s free hand and squeeze it.

“There’s a good boy,” Derek said with a small smile as he sat more upright, squeezing Stiles’ hand back. He kept up with his using one finger for a short while longer, before tilting his head so he could look at Stiles’ face. “I’m going to start using another, okay? Then I’ll give you what you’re really wanting.” Derek said, waiting for Stiles to say it was all right. Stiles nodded at that, exhaling shakily before he let out a low moan.

“Yeah...Yeah. Sounds good.” He said softly, biting his lip and closing his eyes again for a moment. “I...I wanna face you when we get to that point. Unless this is better, I don’t know it’s a little hard to think when a part of you is in me.” He laughed a little breathlessly. Derek grinned, laughing a little as well.

“I think I can manage that.” He answered, sliding out his first finger just enough that he could bring up his middle one next to it, easing them in together just a little quicker than he had the first one. He braced his wrist against his crotch, focusing on where he was angling his fingers before searching out for Stiles’ prostate. He listened carefully to Stiles’ breathing, the sounds he was making, that always being a sure sign he’d found the right spot.

“Good. I think it would be nice to do something like tha- _Oh fuck._ ” He moaned lightly at that and bucked his hips a little. He liked the feeling of his fingers in him, really excited to get to the other things. He bit his lip and closed his eyes as he slowly got lost in the feeling before his breath hitched when Derek got close to the sensitive area. His eyes widened at the feeling and tried to move his hips so that he could try to get more of that feeling. He let out a whimper and quickly buried his face back in the bedding so he could quiet himself. Derek chuckled a little, shaking his head and giving Stiles’ hand a squeeze.

“It’s all right, I’ve got you,” he murmured, taking a second to relocate that spot and rub it. He never kept his fingers on it for long, knowing if he did - especially with Stiles being a virgin - he might end up ruining the fun before it really began. “You’re not going to be able to muffle those pretty little sounds once I flip you over,” he said lowly, continuing to tease Stiles’ prostate as he leaned over him, bringing their hands up so Stiles could still squeeze it if he needed/wanted. Stiles’ eyes rolled back before he closed them, moaning louder as he rocked his hips with his hand. He was losing coherency quickly and began to mutter a jumble of curse words under his breath as he spread his legs more for Derek. He squeezed his hand tighter, whimpering and dropping his forehead down to the bed before he cried out Derek’s name.

“P-Please, Derek. I-I...Oh _God_...I need more.” He groaned out, his toes curling as he struggled to control himself.

“More what?” Derek asked, brushing his thumb against the back of Stiles’ hand, though he was sure that was little comfort to ease Stiles’ pleasure so he could be coherent. “Tell me what you need - I need words, Stiles.” He said, easing up on Stiles’ prostate, but not removing his fingers, instead returning them to the steady rhythm they’d had before.

Stiles groaned a little and squirmed in protest. “I-I’d really like you inside me now, please and thank you.” He said quickly, breathing heavily as he kept his eyes closed so that he could think a bit easier. Derek laughed, nodding.

“All right, I’m done torturing you then I suppose,” Derek said, unable to resist brushing his fingertips against Stiles’ prostate one last time before gently removing his fingers. Stiles went to thank him for being nice enough to stop torturing him but instead let out a loud moan as he closed his eyes tightly. “Jesus Christ, Derek!” He exclaimed, tightening his grip on the bedding as he writhed a little. Derek got up from the bed, stripping off his boxers with his clean hand and using them to wipe off his fingers before tossing them in the far opposite corner of the room. “You can flip whenever you’re ready, or I can help you,” Derek said, laughing a little at the way Stiles looked. He looked sexy, yes, but also quite funny with his face smashed against the bed the way it was. Stiles had to take a minute to control himself and get his body to move right before he slowly sat up and moved his arms around Derek’s neck.

“Y-You are such a dick.” He panted heavily, scowling at him as his face flushed. “You are so lucky that I am too invested in having sex with you or I would kick you.” Derek burst out laughing, hiding his face until he’d stopped, looking back up at Stiles with a giant grin on his face.

“You say that, but I’m not even done yet,” Derek said, leaning forward and pressing a kiss to Stiles’ neck. He didn’t want to waste any more time, so he went ahead and at least positioned himself between Stiles’ legs. Stiles slowly smiled widely, glad that he had gotten Derek to laugh even if he wouldn’t let him tickle him. He ran his fingers through his hair, nodding as he hummed in content.

“Yeah, I can’t wait to see what you have in store for me.” He said softly before he took Derek’s hand again so that he could hold it tightly.

“Hmmm, well, you won’t have to wait long,” Derek said, glancing over so he could locate the lube again, warming it up in his hand for a few seconds before reaching down to his cock and slicking it up. Stiles stayed quiet as he watched Derek get himself ready and felt the butterflies in his stomach going full force. His throat tightened a little from his nerves. Derek kissed Stiles’ chest, his shoulder, his throat, finally kissing his mouth and nipping at Stiles’ lower lip. All the while he stroked himself and got himself ready. He hated that he sensed how nervous Stiles was, but he was a virgin and he assumed that was it – worse case, he had his safe word if he needed it. Once he was ready, he let go of Stiles’ hand, bringing his now free hand between their hips so he could shift Stiles’ legs up a little. He brushed the tip of his cock against Stiles’ hole, letting out a heavy sigh as he began to press into him. Stiles took a slow breath before Derek began to slowly push in, letting out a gasp and a light moan at the feeling.

“O-Oh God.” Stiles said softly, his hands flying up to his face so he could cover it as his face quickly flushed more than it already had. He realized that he probably looked stupid and had big plans on keeping his face covered the whole time so that Derek wouldn’t be able to see it. Derek didn’t bother complaining about Stiles hiding his face, letting go of his cock once he had pushed inside Stiles enough that he didn’t need to guide his way. He pressed in gently, bracing himself above Stiles as he hung his head.

“Fuck, Stiles,” he breathed, lifting his free hand to grip Stiles’ hands, pulling them down just enough to press his lips against Stiles’ mouth as their hips finally met together. Derek traced his tongue along Stiles’ lips, his breath coming out in heavy pants. Stiles let out a low whine as he shifted his hips and moved his legs open more so that he could accommodate him easier.

“T-That’s the idea.” He laughed a little breathlessly before he was kissed. He opened his mouth so that he could meet Derek’s tongue with his own before he tried to coax it into his mouth. Derek breathed a laugh through his nose, working his mouth open against Stiles’ pressing their tongues together. He brought his hips back, letting his hand move away from Stiles’ face. He brought his fingers around Stiles’ cock as he pressed back in, easing his way into a rhythm with his hips and his hand. He moaned a little into Stiles’ mouth, partially because of how good Stiles was making him feel, and partially because God damn it had been a really long time. He was honestly glad that he’d lasted this long, spending most of his attention at the beginning to Stiles for that very reason.

Stiles let out a gasp against his mouth and bucked his hips between Derek’s hips and his hand. His nerves were completely gone and were quickly being replaced with one of the greatest things that he had felt in his life. He moved to rest a hand on the back of Derek’s neck and the other on his cheek, wanting to keep him kissing him for a bit longer. He soon thought of something he wanted to try and pulled away from his mouth so that he could latch onto Derek’s shoulder and bite down. He was curious to see what kind of effect it would have on Derek now that he was inside of him.

Derek lost his rhythm the second Stiles’ bit him, a moan stifling his breathing. He picked it back up as soon as he recovered, but a little faster this time with his movements. He rested his forehead against Stiles’ shoulder as he moved inside him. He wasn’t going to last much longer if Stiles kept up, so he went for the gold, shifting the angle of his hips so he could brush against Stiles’ prostate with every thrust. He opened his mouth to try and let Stiles know how close he was, but with so much going on physically and the force that Stiles was biting him with, all he ended up doing was letting out a nonsensical moan against Stiles’ chest.

Stiles laughed a little against his skin, preparing to bite again when Derek slammed against his prostate. He accidentally bit down much harder than he meant to, muffling his moan before he realized that he tasted Derek’s blood. “O-Oh my, - _Fuck!_ \- fucking G-God, Derek. I-I’m so - _God damn!_ \- sorry!” He tried to get out between his moans, throwing his head back as he dug his nails in Derek’s back. He began to drag his nails down his back, trying to keep a grip on himself but it was really hard when he felt himself quickly getting close to his climax. Derek’s hips jerked forward when Stiles bit him again, not even realizing why Stiles was apologizing until he felt himself healing. A loud moan loosed from his lips and swears started pouring from his lips in rapid succession.

“Fucking Christ, Stiles I’m - is it okay if I...” he said, his breaths letting out from his mouth in stages, hitching erratically. His eyes flickered open and closed, his thrusts no less hard, but definitely going to come to a quick end. His cock was aching from the pressure, ready to release - but Stiles hadn’t said anything about where Derek should come and he needed to know that it was okay.

“O-Okay if you..?” Stiles tried to get out, digging his nails deeper into his skin.

“Where,” Derek breathed through clenched teeth, his toes curling up. “Where should I - mmmm oh _fuck,_ ” he said, dissolving into more slurs at the same time as Stiles brought him closer - and therefore deeper - using his legs. Derek couldn’t control himself as he came, eyes shifting red just seconds before Stiles’ hips bucked against him, his hips stuttering before stilling every single movement with himself pressed into Stiles as much as their bodies would allow. His whole body kept tensing, an inaudible groan melding into a very loud one as Stiles drew blood on his back. He clenched his hands around the bed sheets, gritting his teeth and shuddering as he rested his forehead on Stiles’ shoulder. He kept himself up as long as he could, his arms shaking until he’d gently removed himself from Stiles, letting himself fall to lie next to Stiles on his back, eyes settled on the ceiling as he panted, and trying to catch up with his breathing.

Stiles groaned a little at the loss of Derek before he let out a low whine as he tried to keep a hold on him but instead his body wouldn’t allow it and he just dropped back to the bed. He felt like he was just a pile of mush and panted heavily as he stared up at the ceiling with a completely dazed look on his face. It wasn’t long before he slowly smiled and began to laugh to himself. “Holy fucking shit.” He said softly, unable to believe just how incredible that was. He slowly turned his head to look at Derek, rolling over so that he could curl up against him and kiss his jaw softly. “Thank you _so_ much for that.”

Derek was content to lay there for the rest of the day, however much of it was left. He didn’t have windows in his room, and he didn’t want to get up just to glance on the windows. His cigarettes were a good motivator, but he had a carton on the other side of the bed along with his spare lighter, so he didn’t worry too much more about it. He looked over at Stiles, noticing the movement out of the corner of his eye. He’d barely heard Stiles’ swearing with the leftovers of having just come still working their way through his head and his body. He worked his arm under Stiles’ head, bringing him closer and just resting his arm around Stiles’ shoulder, hand finding its way to Stiles’ hair and brushing his fingers against it.

He smirked at Stiles thanking him, humming in response. “I’ve definitely had worse,” Derek sighed, closing his eyes, resting his other hand on his stomach. “I’m sorry for the end there.”

“I’m giving myself a gold medal.” He mumbled, resting his head on Derek’s shoulder before he closed his eyes. He felt like he could just fall asleep right now and that didn’t seem like too bad of an idea. His father worked late so he could get away with it as long as he was home and in bed before he got out of work. He slowly moved his arm around Derek’s waist loosely so that he could keep him close and stay with his new favorite source of heat.

“Why are you sorry?” He asked, frowning over at Derek after he’d registered what Derek had said.

“Because I didn’t clear with you where I came before I did.” Derek said. Stiles stayed quiet for a bit, trying to think of what to say that wasn’t some cheesy after sex line from some typical rom-com. “It’s totally fine, but uh… I can’t feel my legs.”

Close enough.

Derek chuckled, only partially relieved at Stiles’ answer. “The feeling will come back in a few minutes.” He said, lifting his head from the mattress and popping his neck both ways before resting it back on the bed. He sighed, not wanting to get up even though he knew he needed to. He turned his head and looked down at Stiles, a small smirk on his lips. He was pretty pleased with himself, to be perfectly honest. “I need to grab a few things, but you don’t have to get up unless you want to,” Derek said softly. Stiles quickly groaned in protest and moved his arm tighter around Derek in an attempt to keep him there. He even tried to move his leg around his for good measure so that he could make sure that Derek wasn’t going anywhere until he gave him permission.

Derek rolled his eyes, “You’re a mess.” Derek muttered, shaking his head. “At least grab me a pack of cigarettes and a lighter from down there,” he said, gesturing at the floor on the other side of Stiles.

“So are you.” Stiles laughed a little reaching up so that he could mess Derek’s hair up even more than he already had before he slowly reached over to get Derek’s things for him. At the same time, Derek reached down to the end of the bed, grabbing the sheet where it had gotten shoved at some point and tossing it over Stiles. “To clean yourself up,” he said as explanation, resting back down against the mattress.

“Aw, damn, and here I was thinking that you were going to lick it off of me. No not really, just kidding. I just want to cuddle.” He murmured as he wiped himself up and tossed the sheet aside.

Derek grabbed the sheet before it flew too far out of his reach, finding a not cum covered section and glancing back at his shoulder. It was mostly smeared from Stiles’ apparently ingesting most of the blood, but he wiped off what was still there and then he noticed the bed, dotted lines of tiny blood droplets from where he had laid down. Derek groaned inwardly, “I’m going to have to buy new... everything.” Derek said, tossing the sheets aside finally. He leaned over Stiles, grabbing the cigarettes and lighter for himself, smacking the top of the pack against the heel of his palm a few times before pulling at the cellophane.

“I’ll bring some over tomorrow.” Stiles told him softly since it was the least he could do after all since it was his fault that the sheets were going to be stained. “Do you have a preference in color or can I just get whatever?” He asked before he grinned to himself as he traced his side softly. He soon thought of something and furrowed his eyebrows as he watched Derek. “Have you ever tried shot gunning?” The teenager asked him curiously, thinking of another thing that he might like to try for fun.

“Black might be best,” Derek said, grabbing Stiles hand and moving it to a less ticklish area of his side. He crumpled up the cellophane in the same movement that he tore out the front foil cover of the pack, brushing his finger rapidly along the tops of the filters to get rid of tobacco flakes that had worked their way there. He tossed the paper and cellophane on the floor, tapping out a cigarette and lighting it, tossing those on the milk crate he was using as a nightstand. He crossed his legs, resting his elbows on his knees as he smoked, sitting in the middle of the bed so when he needed to tap his ashes he just had to stretch out his arm.

“Wait, are you talking about pot?” Derek asked, raising an eyebrow as he looked over at Stiles, registering what he’d asked.

Stiles groaned shifted a little to get more comfortable before he slowly got more comfortable. “Well, I mean it’s normally done with pot from what I’ve seen, but I’m not gonna do that because of my dad and the whole lacrosse thing. I figured that you could be able to do it with normal cigarettes too so that it would be almost the same thing. I mean, if you’ve done that with pot that’s cool too, but it was just something that crossed my mind. You’re kind of fun to watch when you smoke.” He admitted, just sort of blurting out every single thing that was on his mind at this point. Derek raised his eyebrow a little further, blinking a couple times.

“You know, you could just have a pack. I have plenty,” Derek said, placing the cigarette between his lips and taking a drag. “Unless you were saying that for a reason.” he said, his eyebrow finally going back to a normal position as he did.

“I was suggesting it,” He started before pausing and leaning forwards as he slowly looked from Derek’s eyes and back down to his lips, slowly licking his own. “Because it’s something I would like to do with you.” Derek let the smoke billow up from his lungs, spilling out between his parted lips the same as it was rising from his cigarette. He blew the rest out past Stiles face, over his shoulder.

“I guess I can do that,” Derek said, assuming it was some sort of sex appeal thing for Stiles. He waited a few seconds to clear his lungs before taking another drag. He took Stiles’ chin in his free hand, easing his mouth open and pressing their lips together, exhaling the smoke into Stiles’ mouth. He gave Stiles a quick kiss before pulling away, taking another drag and actually inhaling it this time for himself. Stiles nipped at Derek’s lip when he was kissed and slowly smiled before he held the smoke in for a few moments. He watched Derek curiously before he slowly exhaled and watched the smoke come from his mouth.

“You don’t get stoned do you?” He asked curiously, wondering about that now. Derek exhaled the smoke he’d inhaled, reaching his hand past Stiles to tap his ashes on the floor, mentally reminding himself to invest in an ashtray… and a broom.

“Are you asking if I smoke pot or asking if it’s possible considering the whole werewolf thing?” Derek asked, resting his hand on Stiles’ knee, careful of where his cigarette was aimed so he didn’t accidentally burn Stiles.

“Well now I’m wondering both.” He replied, smiling a little at Derek. He felt happy whenever Derek touched him and was glad that they would get to keep doing this.

“Well, the answer to the first question is not in a really long time.” Derek said, pausing to take a drag from his cigarette and exhale it. “The answer to the second is a bit of a story, but to make it short - yes, I can get high.” He said. “What about you? I mean, I know your dad’s a cop and the lacrosse and all, but.. Not even once? At a party or something?” Derek asked.

“Uh, no, I haven’t gotten stoned. But I have gotten drunk, on more than one occasion.” He replied, leaning forwards to kiss him quickly once the cigarette wasn’t in his mouth. “It’s not really something I’ve had the chance to do.”

Derek shook his head, “It’s not really anything it’s cracked up to be. Nice, definitely, but I don’t know. Maybe I just should have smoked more than a few hits the times I smoked.” He said and took a drag from his cigarette, exhaling it out.

“I kind of would actually like to see what you’re like when you’re high.” He said softly, trying to picture what he would act like. He soon groaned and buried his face in Derek’s chest. “Jesus, you’re already corrupting me. Almost everything becomes about eighty percent hotter if it involves you.” He mumbled as he looked up at him again. He waited until he took another drag before he kissed Derek again so he could take the smoke from him and blow it out again slowly. “Like this for example. Anyone else and I probably wouldn’t even do it.” Derek nodded, bowing his head forward and looking at the bracelet on his wrist, twisting it around so the charms were visible.

“I just want you to remember what I said earlier. We’re just friends - we can’t afford to be anything else. I’m sorry if that’s an unnecessary reminder, but it’s just the way it’s gotta be.” Derek muttered. He lifted his head and looked over at Stiles, his mask coming up and making his expression and feelings unreadable, his trustworthy shield - though it probably gave away more than if he’d just allowed himself to look disappointed.

“I know that.” He told him softly, sitting back. He furrowed his eyebrows, seeing the change in him and slowly got to his feet. “I should probably head home.” He murmured, not really wanting to, but he figured that maybe Derek just needed space right now. “I’ll see you tomorrow maybe?” Derek watched Stiles get up, reaching out to balance him when he seemed unsteady, but Stiles already had it covered. He mentally berated himself, wondering if Stiles was leaving because of what he’d just said and knowing the answer was probably yes. He was shutting down again and that was good, he thought. Better to shut down and see him another day than to end up having a fight... Or whatever might happen if he asked Stiles to stay.

“Come back tomorrow, I’ll get some stuff together and I’ll draw you,” Derek offered, wanting to at least attempt to give Stiles a reason to come back. Stiles paused at Derek’s words and furrowed his eyebrows before he slowly looked back over at him once he was finished getting dressed.

“What? You really mean it?” He asked curiously he smiled widely. “Okay, that sounds really awesome. I’ll be here as soon as I’m finished with practice.” He said softly, almost wanting to lean down and give him one last kiss but decided against it. “And I’ll bring you over some new sheets.” Derek shifted towards the edge of the bed, grabbing and slipping his jeans back on as he stood.

“Sounds like a plan,” he said, leaning down to pick up his shirt. He pulled it on before he walked over to Stiles, brushing his fingers over the bite mark he’d left on Stiles’ shoulder. “If anyone asks you about this, you should have a lie prepped.” he said, brushing his hand against Stiles’ face, tucking his cigarette between his lips.

“I got attacked by a dog.” He replied with a shrug before he slowly grinned up at him. “Oh wait, that’s exactly what happened.” He joked. “And I know, I know, don’t worry, I’m going to keep them hidden as much as I possibly can. I promise I won’t let anyone find out, okay?” He replied before he shifted a little on his feet. “Can I have another good kiss or should we wait until later?” Derek let out a sharp silent laugh, bowing his head as he took his cigarette from his lips.

“Since you asked nicely,” he replied, bringing his free hand up to Stiles neck. He pulled Stiles’ face to him, pressing their lips together. He rubbed the back of Stiles’ neck a little before pulling away, pressing one last kiss to Stiles’ forehead. Stiles loved the way that Derek kissed him more than almost anything in the entire world. He smiled against his mouth as he nipped at his lip softly before Derek could pull away.

“Thanks.” He said softly, unable to stop himself from grinning when Derek kissed his forehead. “Alright, I’ll be back sooner than you think.” He said happily before he zipped his jacket up and headed out of the warehouse so that he could go home and get a lot of sleep. Derek nodded, watching Stiles leave. He ran his hand through his hair, glancing at his bed which made him sigh. He had no spare sheets at all. He stripped it clean, the pillows too and ended up spending the next couple of hours cleaning as much of the warehouse that he could until finally passing out on the bed.


	6. Work Of Art

Derek woke up around noon the next day, which he kicked himself for doing because that left him about 4 hours to get stuff together for Stiles coming over later. He quickly changed into some cleaner clothes, taking off in his Camaro towards the only store in Beacon Hills that sold decent art supplies. His visit there was mainly uneventful until he was at the checkout and the whole time the cashier was staring at him with this terrified scent coming off of them. He sighed inwardly, paying with his credit card and heading out with a pack of canvas panels and a fresh case of Primsacolor pencils.

He stopped by the local Wal-Mart as well, because God forbid any town didn’t have one, and picked up some cleaning supplies there as well - getting home just a little before 3:30pm. How he’d ended up spending that much time was mainly attributed to his pickiness with his art supplies, but at least Stiles hadn’t beat him there. He brought everything up in two trips, starting to put things away where he wanted them, except for the stuff he’d need when Stiles finally got there.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Stiles was a little sore in the morning from everything, but he found that he actually really liked it a lot. He spent more time than he probably should have staring in the mirror at his bite marks. He was going to have to ask Derek to give him more marks next time and maybe some more prominent ones that would last a lot longer. He was a little sad that he had to cover them up because he was so proud of them and the fact that his V-card had been stamped in the best way, but he knew that they were going to have to keep it a secret. He had used nearly half a bottle of his soap in his super long shower, trying to make sure that he could avoid smelling like Derek way more than he normally did whenever he hung out at his place to the werewolves he hung around.

Once Lacrosse practice was over and done with, he quickly changed into his clothes and drove straight to Derek’s house so that they could hang out. He couldn’t wait to see how the drawing session would go, and if there was anything else that they were going to do once it was over and done with. After he locked up his Jeep, he headed to the door and began to knock on it before he leaned back and waited for him. Taking Derek’s advice for once, he had left his hoodie in the car so he was left in his favorite T-shirt with a little shark on it that said ‘Jawesome’ in big blue letters.

“It’s open!” Derek called over his shoulder to the door, standing at the table by the windows as he worked at trying to open his pack of canvas panels. For some stupid reason they had them sealed up ridiculously tight, as well as pressed together with a band. He flexed out a hand, claws shifting out as he did, removing the issue entirely and just ripping his claws through the plastic and the band. Stiles opened the door and closed it behind him once he was in before he headed over to Derek. He slowly grinned as he saw that he had all of the art supplies out.

“You’re really going all out on this.” He said softly, looking over to see what all he would be using. “So uh, Jack, do you prefer your models clothed or nude?”

When Stiles came over he glanced up at him, smirking at his first comment, rolling his eyes at his second. He paused in opening the case of pencils and looked at what Stiles was wearing, raising his eyebrows with a sigh. “Do you really want to have a permanent picture of you wearing a shirt that says _Jawsome_ on it?” He asked, going back to opening the pencils as he waited for an answer. He didn’t have as many problems with it, not wasting time trying to open it regularly and just using his claws like he did with the canvases. The case opened like a book and he sat it on the table.

“Don’t knock my shirt, this is my lucky shirt. And you’re probably just jealous of it anyways because you wish that you could be as Jawsome as a shark.” Stiles replied, tugging a little at it for emphasis. He thought about it for a moment before he groaned and pulled the shirt over his head so he could toss it aside. “Are you going for a bust drawing or do I need to get completely naked?” Derek hummed at Stiles defense of his shirt, shaking his head as he ran his fingers over the pencils, already thinking about which ones matched up with the certain browns of Stiles’ eyes or the peach of his lips. He had to mentally shake himself when Stiles started talking again, looking away from the colors so he could focus on what Stiles was saying.

“I figure just a bust for now; I might want to draw you again later, who knows.” He said, glancing at the spot where he’d bit Stiles, noting how it had bruised a little around the edges, wondering if he should add the marks in or not. Stiles nodded at that before he remembered something.

“Oh right, I brought your new sheets. I may as well go put them upstairs while you’re setting up, right?” He asked, picking up his backpack before he looked back at Derek. “I can change your sheets too while I’m up there so they’re ready for when you go to bed, or y’know, anything else that happens.”

“Yeah, go for it,” Derek said, giving a shrug as he gestured in the general direction of his room. “Grab that crate by my bed on your way back,” he added, walking over to Stiles’ drum kit and grabbing Stiles’ stool, glancing around the room trying to figure out where he wanted Stiles to sit as he stepped back out from behind the drums.

“Alright, I’ll be back in a few minutes.” He replied, carrying his backpack upstairs so that Derek wouldn’t be able to see the sheets until he went to his room. Derek did say he wanted black sheets, but he didn’t specify that they had to be all black. He pulled out a set of Batman sheets, stripping the mattress before he tossed the dirty sheets aside and replaced them with the new ones. Once he deemed it perfect, he headed back downstairs and grinned at him. “Are you all ready for me now?” Derek eventually settled on moving the table, setting the stool in its place. He looked over at Stiles from the pencils on the table where he’d moved it off to the side, shaking his head and going back to selecting the pencils he wanted to use.

“You forgot the crate.” He said simply.

“Well crap. This is why we can’t have nice things.” Stiles replied, groaning and turning around so that he could go and get it. He grabbed the crate before he returned and set it down beside Derek. “Anything else?” Derek glanced up, thinking before shaking his head.

“Nope,” he answered, still picking out colors. He nodded over at the stool, “You can go ahead and sit down, I’ll just be a second.” he said, frowning at the pencils before picking up one more, then another, and one last one that he wasn’t even sure he’d use, but just in case. Once he’d gathered them up and grabbed a canvas he picked up the crate and sat it down a couple feet away from the platform, sitting down on it and pulling out a cigarette before he looked up at Stiles.

“Find a position that’ll be comfortable, if you want to smile, that’s fine, but remember you’re going to be holding this pose for a while,” he said, lighting his cigarette before cracking his knuckles. He sorted out the pencils on the floor next to his foot, scratching his free hand through his hair as he waited for Stiles to settle into a pose. Stiles began to spin around on the stool slowly as he tried to think about what kind of pose would be the best and most comfortable.

“Uh, well...” He trailed off and raised an eyebrow as he continued to think. “Should we do something really sexy or no?”

“Do you want something you can show people? ‘Cause that’s the answer to your question,” Derek said, resting his elbows on his knees, the canvas resting on his lap as he took a drag from his cigarette, holding his right hand in his left as he looked up at Stiles. Stiles laughed at that and tilted his head back as he stopped spinning.

“Well, damn. There goes my plan of having you drawing me jacking off next time.” He joked as the chair slowly came to a stop and he rolled his head to look over at Derek. “What about this? It seems like an easy position to keep.” He rested his cheek against his shoulder, not thinking that he would get sore fast if he kept the pose up. Derek shook his head, getting up and setting the canvas down on the crate, stepping up the platform to where Stiles was sitting.

“You’re stretching out your neck muscles. It might seem comfy right now, but an hour from not it’s not going to be.” Derek said, stepping up to Stiles and using the tips of his fingers to angle Stiles’ head back upright, but tilted back a little. He looked him over and pressed down on Stiles’ shoulders until he moved them so they were just a little slouched.

“Sitting like this will let you last a lot longer,” he said and raised his cigarette to his lips, taking a drag. He frowned as he ran his thumbnail against his lip, thinking about how Stiles was positioned and where he was going to cut off the drawing. He put Stiles’ hand on his not bitten shoulder, tapping Stiles’ forehead when he was done. “Now, just try not to move,” he said, stepping back off the platform and setting himself back up on the crate. Stiles groaned a little when Derek mentioned the time it would take, but knew that he would have to try his best to be patient and keep still. He had an energy drink in his bag just in case he had problems sitting still, since the effect of the drink on his ADHD would work just as well as his medication.

“Okay, I’ll stay still for you and be the best model that you will ever draw.” He loved being moved around by Derek, enjoying how he was already getting into his artist zone. “Y’know, I think I’ll have a lot of fun when you tie me up, since I’m already having a good time and all you did was move me around a little.” He slowly grinned as he spoke before he realized that it was probably a bad thing to distract Derek when he was trying to draw him. Derek smirked, shaking his head.

“We’ll see how you feel in about half an hour,” Derek said, glancing up at Stiles before setting his pencil back to the paper. He’d take breaks every once in a while, either to smoke or get another look at Stiles. Eventually, however, he had a rough outline done of everything except Stiles’ face, allowing Stiles to talk because he knew that with Stiles’ inability to shut up that was likely going to be the most difficult area to get him to hold still for. He sat his pencil down after his hand started to get cramped from the constant short, quick movements - the muscles aching for a chance to heal themselves. He didn’t need long before it felt fine, but he still got up, rolling his neck and looking over to Stiles.

“Break time,” he said, setting the canvas on top of the others on the table, drawing side down. Stiles groaned in happiness when he was allowed to move, jumping off of the stool and stretching his body. He went over to Derek, grabbing his pack of cigarettes so he could take one and light it up. “Hey look, I didn’t choke this time.” He smiled up at him after he had taken a drag. Derek leaned against the table, taking a cigarette for himself, lighting it after Stiles handed him his lighter back.

“Congrats,” Derek said with a smirk and an eye roll, crossing his arms over his chest after he’d taken a drag and exhaled it out. “You talk about really random stuff whenever no one’s answering you,” he commented.

“My mind works weird, you’ll get used to it if you haven’t already. Which by the sounds of it that would be a no.” He slowly grinned, slowly twirling the little tobacco stick in his fingers as he watched Derek. “I think you may be corrupting me. I mean, I am at a very impressionable age.” Derek laughed, shaking his head.

“I am not taking the blame for that. You’re the one who said yes.” Derek said, gesturing at Stiles’ cigarette. He slid down from the table, heading towards the corner by the window where he had a case of soda. He grabbed a couple, offering one out to Stiles as he came back over to the table.

“Nah, I’m gonna say that you’re a bad influence.” Stiles snickered. “Let’s see, I’ve already tried harboring a fugitive, I almost did cut off your arm, I’ve had sex, started socially smoking, and I’ve also considered getting stoned with you so that we can try actually shot gunning. I’m afraid that if it keeps going, I’ll grow my hair out like yours and start wearing leather.” He joked as he took the soda from him.

“I’m trying to find the complaint in that, but I’m just not seeing it,” Derek said, cracking his soda open and taking a drink. “Besides, I’m not gonna say that you with longer hair isn’t an attractive idea.” He said, placing his cigarette between his lips and taking a drag, eying Stiles out of the corner of his eye. Stiles laughed a little and rubbed his buzzed head.

“Maybe I’ll try growing it out during the summer.” He shrugged as he thought about it before he glanced back at him. “So uh, you said that there was a long story how you could get stoned. What is it?” Derek leaned his head back as he exhaled the drag, trying to think of where to start.

“Well, it’s kind of boring to me, but I mean I guess it’s kind of interesting.” He said and lifted his head back up, scratching at his hairline for a second. “One of my relatives a few decades ago was trying to come up with a way for his wife, a born werewolf like me, to be able to enjoy alcohol.” He paused to tap his ashes. “So, he started with this really weak form of wolfsbane and I don’t know the other plant he used, but he started crossbreeding them together. Eventually, he came up with a new strain that was able to be mixed into alcohol, or died out and mixed with pot, which allows us to get high or drunk without risking us dying from the poison.” He took a drag from his cigarette, following it with a drink of his soda. “We’re the only family that has it, as far as I know. I guess my relative didn’t want to share his work.” He added.

“What the hell do you mean that’s boring? That’s one of the most badass things I have ever heard. That’s taking the whole ‘pick your poison’ thing to a whole other level because I mean, you’re taking wolfsbane. That’s freaking awesome. Do you have any of it?” He asked curiously, really intrigued by this now. “God, I don’t know how you could find that boring. It’s like how dolphins chew blowfish to get stoned from the poison.”

“There’s a spot on the property where my family used to grow it, but since no one’s been tending it I don’t know if any of it would be useful. I don’t even know if it’s still there,” Derek answered, tapping his ashes by his foot. “I think I still have some seeds stored away in my stuff, but it’d be a couple months before any of it would be ready.”

“Well that’s no fun.” He said softly, taking a last drag of his cigarette before he put it out under his sneaker. “Have you ever really ever used it yourself?” He asked him curiously as he looked back up at him. He was really intrigued to hear about the really cool things that werewolves could do that no one else really knew about.

“Me and Laura had a few plants up in New York. Pretty easy to get away with getting high whenever you want what you’re smoking isn’t illegal.” Derek said, taking one last drag from his cigarette before doing the same to his own. “We’d use it mostly for drinking though, Laura didn’t like the apartment to smell like that all the time.”

“Do you ever miss New York?” He asked him curiously. He felt so bad that Derek had gone through so much bad in his life. It was bad enough that he had lost his family in a fire, but then to have his only sister and, by the sound of it, best friend die too? He didn’t know how he could have handled it.

“Not really,” Derek said with a shrug. “It was just where me and Laura ended up, y’know? There’s just so much noise there, so many people who don’t give two shits about who you are - which is nice - but it means you had to put up with a lot of bullshit any time you went anywhere. The only thing I miss was working at the shop and... Well, Laura.” Derek said, running his thumb along the ring of his soda can. He left it at that, taking a breath and clearing his throat before taking a drink of his soda. Stiles bit his lip as he watched Derek and just felt worse about bringing the wolfsbane up since it led to something that Derek was still really hurting about. He stepped closer to Derek, moving his arms around his neck and pulling him in for a tight embrace. He figured that Derek didn’t get many hugs, and right now it seemed like the perfect time for one.

Derek took a second to get a breath, not expecting Stiles to hug him. Most of the time when he got like that Stiles just left. He blindly sat his soda down on the table and hesitantly wrapped his arms around Stiles’ back. He swallowed hard, the tight way that Stiles was hugging him making it difficult to breathe, or maybe that was just the way his memories had settled on his chest like a brick. He closed his eyes, turning his face to bury it in Stiles’ neck, tightening his arms around him a little. He swore at himself in his thoughts, getting way too much comfort from Stiles holding him. But what else were friends supposed to be for, other than making you laugh? He knew this was what friends were supposed to do, comfort each other when they needed it, but it still felt like it was more than that. Maybe because they’d had sex, maybe because Derek just really genuinely liked Stiles as a human being - he didn’t know. He sighed inwardly, lifting his head up and resting his cheek against Stiles’ head.

Stiles kept his arms around Derek, rubbing his back and trying to do all that he could to comfort him. He began to hum under his breath and run his fingers through his hair. “It’s okay, Derek, I’m here.” He told him softly. He wanted to tell him that everything was going to be okay, but he really didn’t know. So far, things were going very well, but a lot had still happened recently. “You don’t have to keep it all in, okay? I mean, you don’t have to tell me if you don’t want, but if you can find ways of letting it out, I’ll help you. I don’t want you to have to hold it all in.” He didn’t know how he had gotten to this point, but he genuinely cared about Derek. He hated to see him suffering and he just wanted to help take some of his pain away. “I’m not letting you go, okay?”

“You’re gonna have to let me go at some point,” Derek said through a breathy laugh. “Look, I’m not going to fall apart okay? I just still need a little time to get things sorted in my head.” He said; which was basically code for compartmentalizing his pain so he didn’t have to think about it, unless he had to. He was stupidly good at that and it was a lot easier to do that, more natural feeling, than to ‘let it out’ as Stiles put it.

“Shut up.” Stiles replied, keeping his arms around him. “I know how much it sucks to try to hold everything inside and you know what that led to? Anxiety and panic attacks. Everyone may be different, but I don’t want anything bad happening to you because you held everything in. Got it? You could break a wall, but that’s _still_ better than letting it eat you away inside, okay?” He tried to think about what else he could say to help him. “You’re...You’re actually a really awesome person and you’ve deserved none of the shit in your life that you’ve gotten for having a bit of wolf blood in you. You’re actually a pretty good person.”

“I’ve been dealing with stuff the same way my whole life; I’m not going to snap now just because I lost my sister too. My family’s alpha power is mine now, and Peter’s dead. I can’t be any more okay with things than I am right now. I miss her, yeah. I miss my mom too, I miss Cora and Brandon and my cousins, my dad, but wallowing in that pain even if it’s as healthy as you say - I just can’t do it.” He gently pushed Stiles away from him enough that he could look at Stiles’ face. “You’re trying to help, I get that, but I promise you I’m fine. Just because I miss my family doesn’t mean I’m secretly about to fall apart at the mention of their names or what happened.” Stiles nodded at that, staring up into Derek’s eyes as he tried to stop some of his own vulnerabilities from rising to the surface.

“I know, I know. I’m not saying that you’re going to break or that you’re some fragile flower needing protection. I’m just saying that I’m here for you for when you need me. You don’t have to talk about anything to me. Just keep spending time with me and doing things we me, because we both know that it’s doing a lot of good.” He pointed out since he had seen how much Derek had opened up to him. “And I’m going to keep fucking hugging you, even if you get pissed and try to claw at me, because this hug train stops for no one.” He replied as he grinned in an attempt to help him feel better. Derek sighed, narrowing his eyes a little at Stiles.

“I’m gonna miss the days you were scared of me,” he joked, smirking a little. “We going to go back to the drawing, or is the _’hug train’_ not done yet?” Stiles laughed at that as he pulled away.

“Maybe you should try harder to scare me. I’m seeing you as less of a wolf and more of something more domestic. Like a Chihuahua.” He teased before he headed back to the stool and plopped down. “I guess the hug train can take a break for now.” Derek raised an eyebrow at Stiles.

“Don’t tempt me,” he answered, walking off the platform, taking the canvas with him and still making sure that Stiles couldn’t see his progress. Getting comfortable again he glanced up at Stiles, “You remember how you were sitting?” He asked, tapping one of his pencils he’d picked up against the palm of his hand. Stiles nodded at that, slowly moving his head into the right position before he moved his hand back to his shoulder.

“There we go.” He said softly as he began to slowly push the stool to spin himself around just for the sake of bothering Derek. Derek nodded, working on the drawing for a few seconds before glancing back up.

“Stop moving,” he said, glaring up at him before going back to the drawing, his hands making quick movements as he tried to focus on adding in the lines of Stiles’ hand. Stiles stopped moving for a bit, laughing a little as he watched Derek.

“Awww, but what would we do if I didn’t make things hard on you?” Derek paused in drawing to glare up at Stiles.

“I could just knock you out and draw you that way.” He threatened, glancing at Stiles’ hand before going back to the canvas.

“Wow, that’s not even nice.” The hyperactive teen replied as he stuck his tongue out at him. “I’m a complete joy to be around.” He added as he soon began to spin again. Derek grunted in response, shaking his head as he switched pencils, glancing up at Stiles and sighing.

“Stiles, seriously, I’m trying to be nice and draw you, you’ve got to sit still - I don’t care if you bounce your leg, talk, do whatever else, just... stop spinning,” he said, sighing in frustration.

“Okay, okay. I’m sorry, you’re right.” Stiles replied as he stopped spinning. “I’m sorry, I’ll stop spinning. I just got a little hyper. Thanks for drawing me anyways; it’s really awesome of you.”

“It’s not like I’m doing this for free,” Derek said, looking up from the canvas to look at Stiles for a second, “You’ll be paying me back later.” He said, starting to fill in a little of Stiles’ collarbone, at least what was visible. He mentally noted that drawing someone you wanted to have sex with was excruciatingly time consuming - mainly because you had to stare at them and not touch, of course. Stiles thought about it, trying to figure out what he was meaning for a moment before he slowly smiled widely.

“Do you take blowjobs as payment?” He asked curiously, wanting to see how he would react to that. Derek glanced up from the canvas, raising an eyebrow up at Stiles. He opened his mouth to say something and then closed it, sighing inwardly.

“Are you trying to distract me or seduce me?” he asked, going back to the canvas.

“Can it be both?” Stiles asked with a smile as he bounced his foot on the floor a little. “I think if I really set my mind to it, I’d be pretty good at it.” Derek smirked.

“I’m not going to object to finding out.” He answered, switching pencils and holding the one he was using between his teeth for a second, making a few marks on the canvas before taking the one from his teeth and using it again. He looked up at Stiles, taking another long look at him before going back to the canvas.

“I’m pretty good with my mouth any way; I mean I can tie cherry stems with my tongue.” He snickered as he stared back at him. “Did you have to draw a ton of naked people in school?”

“Just one,” Derek answered, trying not to think too much about Stiles’ first comment just yet. “I didn’t take many classes, probably about four total. Most of my ability to draw is just my own time and effort.” Derek added, taking a drink from his soda before he went back to the canvas.

“Okay, that’s it. Break time.” Stiles declared, getting off of the stool again.

“We just - “ Derek started, lifting the canvas against his chest so Stiles couldn’t see, looking up just in time for Stiles to cup his face and kiss him. He slipped his eyes closed, leaning forward as Stiles pulled away, but not getting up just yet. He sighed, raising his hands to place them over Stiles’. “I think I could forgive you if you didn’t break anything.”

“Okay, good.” Stiles slowly grinned at that and nodded, taking the canvas and supplies from him before he set them on the table. He didn’t peek at the drawing yet, wanting to wait until he was finished so that he could really be surprised. He moved his hand to the back of Derek’s neck once he was back in front of him and bent down to kiss him again. Derek watched Stiles move his supplies, glad that Stiles didn’t look at the incomplete canvas. That was one thing right now that he _would_ get upset at Stiles for. He leaned into the kiss, gingerly getting up from the chair and running his hands along Stiles chest, tracing his fingers around Stiles’ ribs and pulling him a little closer. Stiles moved his arms around his shoulders and began to gently rub them. He soon grinned; pulling away from the kiss as he gently nuzzled his nose to his.

“Awww, Mr. Sensitive Artist has been working so hard. You are going to so get pampered when this is all done.” He murmured before he decided to mess with him by biting him hard on the shoulder.

“I thought you were going to wait to pay me,” Derek hummed, leaning his head back when Stiles bit him, a startled gasp strangling his thought process as he realized that no, Stiles wasn’t going to wait to pay him for the drawing – unless maybe he was and, _fuck_ he didn’t know what was going on, but it was awesome. “You’re an _ass_ hole.” He breathed.

“Eh, I know but then you had to keep freaking being way too hot for your own good and so I have to do something about that.” Stiles said with a laugh before it turned to something more mischievous at Derek’s reaction to being bitten. “How am I an asshole, anyways? I’m not doing much...Only _this._ ” He murmured before he bit him again.

“It’s because you’re doing that,” Derek muttered, sighing out the words. He leaned his head forward, pressing his lips against Stiles’ neck, gently grazing his teeth against Stiles’ skin.

“Awww, is it turning you on?” He asked before he bit his lip and closed his eyes. “Oh yeah, uh, so...Would it be cool if you left more marks on me? I want ones that will really last for as long as possible without actual scarring.” He said softly as he ran his fingers through Derek’s hair.

Derek laughed, “If I bit that hard, you wouldn’t be much of a human anymore Stiles.” Derek said, pressing another kiss to Stiles’ shoulder. He frowned as he heard a metallic ring though, the sound of footsteps on the stairs outside the door. He heard two more before he urgently started pushing at Stiles.

“Someone’s here,” he said, turning to look at the door. The footsteps didn’t seem to be in a rush, but there weren’t that many stairs, so that wasn’t much comfort. “Get dressed, _now._ ” Derek spat out, rushing as he tried to gather up his art supplies. He tossed the pencils in their case, using the crate as a container for everything as he was rushing to get things hidden. There was nothing he could do about the drum kit - but that wasn’t the number one thing that was a problem.

“If you have deodorant, anything like that, use it,” he said, glancing over at the door. They were almost at the top of the stairs. He jogged over to the bathroom and hid the crate in the shower, ripping open the box that was on the floor by the sink and locating his body spray. He sprayed himself down, turning to stand up at the same time that someone knocked on the door.


	7. Training

Stiles couldn't believe that they totally just got cock blocked. He reluctantly obliged and pulled his shirt back on, making sure that he looked completely normal for whomever the uninvited guest was. He wanted to be annoyed but knew that he couldn’t or it would come off as very, _very_ suspicious.

The teen watched Derek dash up the stairs, slapping him right on the butt before he’d dashed off. He walked over to where his backpack was so that he could freshen his deodorant. Derek rushed back down not long after, running his hands through his hair as he joined Stiles on the platform. He waited until Stiles was done using his body spray, walking slowly over to the door – trying to give their respective deodorants time to actually cover up what they’d been about to do. He glanced back over his shoulder at Stiles before opening the door, tilting his head back a little as he saw that it was Isaac.

“Isaac,” he said, stepping back from the doorway so he could come in. Isaac furrowed his eyebrows a little when he saw Stiles before he glanced back down the stairs for a moment.

“That explains the Jeep.” He said softly, looking back at the two of them. “Can we do some training today or is it not a good time?”

Derek gestured for Isaac to come in, “No, come on in. You’re fine.” He said turning to walk into the room giving Stiles a wink. He knew where they’d been headed was definitely something that he wanted to get back into as soon as possible, but he had responsibilities. He couldn’t allow himself to put off Isaac’s training just because he wanted to get laid.

“I meant to call you over yesterday, but something came up,” he said, looking over at Isaac, crossing his arms. Stiles wished that he could make a witty dick joke to Derek’s excuse, but instead settled for smiling to himself as he turned away and sat on the platform. He was looking forward to watching Derek’s training in action.

“That’s fine with me.” Isaac replied as he followed Derek into the warehouse, shutting the door behind him. “So...Uh, what are we going to start doing first?” He asked curiously, wondering what Derek had in store for him first.

“Your anger.” Derek said, motioning for Isaac to step closer. “It can be your strength, or your weakness and right now it’s a weakness. You need to learn to control that - and in controlling your anger you can learn how to control your shift.” Derek continued, walking around Isaac once he’d stepped closer. “I want you to think of what pisses you off,” he said, not taking his eyes off of Isaac though he could feel Stiles’ eyes on both of them the whole time.

“I want you to get angry and shift.” he said, stopping in front of Isaac and uncrossing his arms, relaxing them at his sides. Isaac nodded a little at that and began to think about all of the things that made him really angry. He soon began to rile himself up and began to breathe heavily as his eyes changed colors. The more he thought about his dad and the lack of control he had growing up with him, he began to get angrier and angrier before he finally shifted. He growled as he stretched his hands, looking down at his claws. Derek nodded, rolling his shoulders as he stepped over to Isaac, grabbing his wrist and raising it so it was between them.

“Now, calm yourself down. Shift back, _without_ needing my help.” He said, looking at Isaac seriously. “Because you’re not going to want my form of help.” He said, letting go of Isaac’s wrist and stepping back, waiting to see if Isaac could actually do it. This was probably the worst idea in the history of bad ideas, but it was a way - that’s all that mattered when there was a full moon coming up soon. Otherwise he had to come up with some sort of backup plan. Isaac looked between Derek and his hands, breathing heavily and trying to calm himself. He tried to stop thinking about all the things that made him angry, but that wasn’t working and he only felt himself becoming much angrier.

“I-I can’t.” He got out between his panting, opening and closing his hands as much as he could without scratching himself.

“Yes, you can,” Derek said firmly. “Think about how powerful you are now compared to a week ago. You were just some kid who had nothing, now look at you. You can do this, Isaac - because if you can’t? You’re going to hurt someone and I know you don’t want that.” Derek said, keeping his voice calm and even. “Shift back.” Isaac shook his head a little before he closed his eyes tightly and tried so hard to calm himself down. He tried to think about all of the good things that could come out of his new gift and tried to focus on that. He could be strong for the first time; he could do great things with this. He held his breath and slowly felt his claws retract. When he opened his eyes they were still amber, but he was starting to feel a little better than he had before.

“That’s good, keep going,” Derek said, relaxing a little since it seemed like he wouldn’t have to fight with Isaac to get him to shift back. “You’re doing great, Isaac.” Derek said, taking his cigarettes from his pocket and lighting one, taking a drag as he waited for Isaac to finish shifting back. He had done pretty well, but this was a no-pressure shift. If he was going to be able to do that when he needed to, he needed less encouragement - but Derek wanted to see how well he could control it before they got into anything else. Stiles found that he actually liked the way that Derek trained Isaac. He was really calm and actually very patient. He wondered what Derek would be like if he was a teacher and quickly realized that would probably be a bad idea because then he really would get absolutely nothing done.

Isaac nodded, slowly calming down and getting all the way back to normal. He gave a small nervous smile, feeling a little proud that he was being praised for something. “Okay...That was a lot harder than I thought.” He admitted as he looked down at his hands.

Derek nodded, “For the first time, that could have gone a lot worse.” Derek said, clapping his hand on Isaac’s shoulder, taking a drag from his cigarette before exhaling it out. “I want you to keep working on this on your own. You can do it here if you want, but you have to keep trying to shift back once you allow yourself to get angry. This way, when you get angry for real, you have something to fall back on, to stop yourself from shifting in front of people.” He said and glanced over his shoulder at Stiles before lowering his voice.

“Another way to get you to shift back is pain. You don’t need much, but if you feel yourself shifting and you don’t think you can stop it - try that. You’ll be in pain for a bit, but it’s better than the alternative, okay?” Derek asked, raising his eyebrows as he looked at Isaac’s face. Isaac nodded at that, remembering the things that helped him calm down.

“How much pain would it need to be?” He asked him curiously, glancing up at him as he took a mental note of everything that would help him stay calm. “What do you do to keep calm?”

“I can’t answer that because I don’t know how much you’ll need to bring yourself back. It might be a lot, it might be a little. Everyone’s different,” Derek said. He took a drag of his cigarette as he thought about Isaac’s second question, frowning. “It’s changed over the years, using different things, but my control comes from my anger. You have a lot of it, so maybe you can use it too.”

“Okay, I’ll keep practicing everything and I will find out what works best.” He replied, taking a deep breath so that he could make sure that he was as calm as possible. “So you need to find something to anchor yourself?”

“Basically,” Derek said, not really having heard that term before. He wondered why not because honestly it was a pretty accurate description. “Something that you can use to bring yourself back, especially if you’re in a situation where you can’t see yourself coming back easily. It has to be something strong, so that if your fight or flight response gets triggered, you can stay in control of your shift. Do you have anything like that already?”

“No, not really...But I’ll keep thinking of something to help me until I find one of my own.” He replied as he put his hands in his pockets. “Maybe if I try hard enough, it will come to me easily.” He said with a small shrug.

“Just keep it in mind,” Derek said and bit at the inside of his lip for a second. “The full moon is in a few days - so I’ll need you to come back here for that. Even if you think you’ve found something by then, it can be hard getting through that on your own. Until then just do what I told you - keep trying to bring yourself back from your shift, you’re always welcome to do it here.” he said. “Right now, just go try to get some rest, okay? You did well; no one can take that away from you.” Isaac nodded at that, smiling a little.

“Okay, I’ll come back then.” He replied before glancing at Stiles over Derek’s shoulder. He wanted to ask about why Stiles was here exactly, but decided against it. Derek seemed pretty private about things and he didn’t want to get on his bad side right now. “Thanks for the help, Derek.” He said softly, heading to the front door before he paused and looked back at him. “What happens if I can’t control it?”

“You’ll either kill someone, or get killed,” Derek said after a moment, not wanting to lie to him. “You proved today you can come back from it with a little coaching. Now you just need to grasp doing it by yourself. You’ll do fine; it just takes time and practice.” He said, flicking his ashes on the floor. He brought his cigarette back to his lips, taking a drag and blowing it out as he watched Isaac.

“Okay, I’ll keep that in mind then. Thanks again. Have a good night.” Isaac told them before he headed outside and closed the door behind him.

“Okay, so you’re also a really good teacher. If I find out one more awesome thing about you, I’m not sure if I'm going to have to kiss you or punch you.” Stiles piped up. He got to his feet and took his shirt off before tossing it aside. “So, do you wanna make out a little or are we going back to drawing?”

“For someone who’s learned so much about werewolves you have a tendency to forget about our hearing,” Derek said a little agitatedly, turning his head towards the door. He didn’t hear any difference in Isaac’s heart rate or breathing as it got farther away, so he calmed down a little, still looking at Stiles with a disapproving expression. “But to answer you, the first one.” Stiles couldn’t help but laugh at that, moving closer to him before he moved his arms around his waist.

“I’m sorry, I completely forgot. I’ll be more careful next time, I promise.” He said softly, nuzzling his nose against his neck.

“I’ll hold you to that,” Derek said, Stiles’ nuzzling eating away at his agitation. “Upstairs?” he asked, raising his eyebrows. “I kind of want to see what you bought for me.” He said, remembering that Stiles had gotten him bed sheets. Stiles grinned at that, moving Derek’s shirt just enough so that he could give him a hard bite on the shoulder.

“Are you sure you don’t want to finish? We are over half way done, aren’t we?”

“We get interrupted once, and you still want to wait?” Derek sighed, brushing his fingers against Stiles’ hairline at the top of his neck, sincerely wishing that Stiles had at least _slightly_ longer hair. The buzz cut did nothing to flatter him, as much as it was unnecessary with how the rest of Stiles looked. Stiles snickered a little and shrugged his shoulders.

“No, no, I was just making sure you weren’t still in artist mode. But we can totally go upstairs to your room; I’m totally cool with that.” He grinned as he pulled away from him. “I think I’ll have to bite you a lot more tonight. You have the best possible reaction to it.” Derek shrugged, heading for the stairs.

“Can’t help it, it’s my biggest weakness in bed.” He said, glancing over his shoulder to make sure that Stiles was following him. He put his cigarette out on the railing, tossing the filter on the floor.

“Do you have any other fun weaknesses that I’ll be able to use against you?” He asked as he followed him. He shamelessly was staring at his butt the whole time, finding that Derek’s jeans really did it justice. “You know, you probably don’t hear this a lot but you have a nice ass.”

“You’ll have to find out the rest on your own,” Derek said, laughing at Stiles’ compliment. “I expect I’ll hear it a lot more with you around?” he asked, glancing back at Stiles as he reached the top of the stairs.

“Oh yeah, you’re totally going to hear it from me a lot. You’ve basically got a nice...everything.” He replied, motioning to all of Derek. “You’re like...Chippendales sexy.” Derek laughed, shaking his head as he opened the door to his room.

“You’re ridiculous,” he said turning to walk in and stopping dead in his tracks as he saw the sheets and stuff that Stiles had bought him. Batman logos were literally _everywhere_. “Oh come on!” He groaned, gesturing helplessly at his bed. Stiles cackled at that and headed into the room so that he could plop down on the bed.

“Hey, in all fairness you didn’t say that they had to be all black. And we both know you liked my Batman underwear, so now you can think about me when you go to sleep at night.” Derek sighed inwardly, closing his eyes and searching for patience. Stiles was going to keep getting the best of him if he didn’t at least pretend that he was bothered.

“Whatever,” he said, lying down on the bed next to Stiles, face down. He pressed his hands against the comforter, running his fingers up the fabric because God damn that was soft. “Okay, I take it back - this is stupidly comfortable.” He said, turning his head to the side so he could look up at Stiles.

“Admit it, I’ve got excellent taste.” Stiles replied, moving to lie down beside him. “It’ll feel even better when you’re completely naked, or well, at least that’s what I’m hoping.” He snickered a little before he gently began to kiss over Derek’s shoulder. “What if I just started tickling you, like right now?”

Derek glared up at Stiles, “I swear to God if you tickle me _ever_ again, I’m going to strangle you with your own intestines.” Derek said a little more convincingly than he’d meant to, making Stiles’ jaw drop. He sighed, running a hand down his face. “Why do you want to tickle me so badly?”

“Because you have an awesome laugh and I wanna see your face turn red when I tickle you long enough.” He replied simply, shrugging his shoulders. Derek laid his head down on the mattress and looked up at Stiles, his expression softening. “Look, I just don’t like it. I never have.” He said, reaching his left hand up to brush along Stiles’ jaw. “I won’t really strangle you with your intestines, but seriously. When I say don’t, _don’t_.”

Stiles groaned a little, scooting closer to him so that he could move to rest their foreheads together. “Okay, okay, I get it. I’ll resist the urge to tickle you. I’ll just keep finding other ways to make you laugh.” He murmured, smiling widely at him before he did his best impression of Derek’s sulking face. “Why so serious?” He asked him softly before he grinned and started to laugh. “Oh my God, you’re totally Batman. You’re even making your own sidekicks.”

Derek raised an eyebrow, “So who does that make you? Cat...man?” He asked, laughing a little at the idea of Stiles in a cat suit. The longer he pictured it the more he laughed. Stiles thought about it for a moment before he snorted and laughed.

“No, but if I was, I would be the sexiest Catman that you would ever see in your entire life.” He snickered as he rested his forehead to Derek’s shoulder. “Let’s both be honest, I’d look awesome in that outfit.” Derek laughed, brushing his nose against Stiles’ ear.

“I’d pay to see you wearing a cat suit.” He said, smirking. “But first I think you promised me something?” He asked, reaching out for Stiles’ hand and kissing the back of it. Stiles thought about it for a moment, looking up at him before he slowly smiled.

“I promised a lot of things.” He replied, raising his eyebrows.

“Don’t play dumb, you know what I’m talking about,” Derek said, lifting his head up to steal a quick kiss. Stiles kissed him back, reaching up so that he could run his fingers through Derek’s hair. He had decided that this was his new favorite thing in the entire world to do. He soon pulled away, smiling widely as he stared up into his eyes.

“Which promise are you thinking about?”

“My payment that you seemed so enthusiastic about ten minutes ago,” he replied, enunciating the words as they left his mouth. “For the drawing of you that I’m going to finish... soon,” he said, not really knowing when the next chance they’d get to actually finish the drawing. Stiles had been right that he was about half done with it, but with the full moon coming up and the possibility of Isaac dropping by again thanks to his open invitation to practice shifting there at the warehouse... well, who knew when he was going to get the time to finish it. He could work on it a little with Stiles gone from memory, but there were still a lot of bits that he couldn’t get without Stiles. Stiles sat up and nodded.

“Yeah, that’s totally something that I can do.” He totally hadn’t been looking into a lot of research on his laptop on how to give oral sex, but he also wanted to go over a few things with Derek. “So obviously, it’s not something I’ve ever done before. I have a few ideas about it, but mostly, I think it would be better to give me some guidance. If you want me to do something, tell me.” He said with a small smile as he started to feel nervous again.

“Well, why don’t you tell me your ideas and I’ll give you my thoughts, and we can go from there?” Derek asked, brushing his thumb against the back of Stiles’ hand. He could hear his heart rate pick up a little, which made him frown. “If you don’t really want to do it, you don’t have to.” Stiles shook his head at that.

“Dude, just because I’m nervous doesn’t mean I don’t wanna do it. You really don’t want to know how long I’ve thought about doing it to you, and so I’m gonna do it.” He replied before sighing and scratching at his head. “Well mostly my ideas are just like, different techniques that I may or may not have read about.” Derek let out a chuckle, tongue darting out to lick his lips.

“All right, point taken.” He said, lifting his head to press a kiss to Stiles’ lips. “I’m ready when you are,” he said, gently nudging Stiles’ nose with his own.

“Maybe you can talk dirty to me.” He snickered a little before he nodded. “Alright, let’s do this. What do you think would be better? Do you want to lay down, stand, or whatever? I want to go with your preference since you know more about this whole thing than I do.”

“I think I’ll just stay lying down,” Derek said with a laugh. “In my experience standing up while doing any kind of sexual act gets a little... iffy, eventually.” he said. “Besides, I won’t have to move if I stay.” he said, smirking up at Stiles. Stiles nodded at that, swallowing slowly before he grinned and ruffled Derek’s hair.

“You’re such a good boy, Derek. You’re so going to be getting treats.” Derek exhaled sharply through his lips, a laugh.

“Hey, that’s your nickname - not mine. Come up with something else.” he said, raising his hand to his hair to fix the odd feeling that Stiles had mussed up his hair.

“You are no fun!” Stiles exclaimed as he grinned back at him. “Are you sure you want me to nickname you? Because I can come up with some pretty bad things.” He pointed out before he sat back on his shins. “So uh, yeah, let’s do this. Get naked, please and thank you.”

“I’ll just keep turning down the ones I don’t like, no big deal,” he said, grinning with the way Stiles asked him to get naked. It was stupidly adorable. He scooted a little closer to the foot of the bed, kicking off his shoes. He pulled off his shirt next, and then his pants, leaving on his boxers just because he thought he’d torture Stiles a little bit as well and make him take them off. He scooted back up to where he’d been laying, lacing his hands and resting them behind his head. He looked up at Stiles with a cheeky grin, waiting. Stiles took a slow breath and rubbed his hands together, feeling his heart start to pound in his chest before he swallowed slowly. He slowly balled his hands into fists and stared at Derek’s boxers as he tried to think of what he should do. He soon decided that he may as well seize the day and gently tugged his boxers down and tossed them aside once he they were off. Stiles had to give himself a quick mental pep talk before he looked up at Derek’s face again.

“You won’t judge me too hard right?” Derek smiled softly at Stiles, sitting up so he could be face to face with him.

“You’re inexperienced Stiles, you’re not going to be amazing at everything first go, okay? Just don’t think about it so much,” he said, grasping the front of Stiles’ shirt and pulling him in for a kiss. Stiles kissed Derek back and felt a little bit better when he pulled away.

“Yeah, okay.” He smiled a little, leaning back so he could take his shirt off and toss it aside. Derek smiled back at him softly, adjusting the pillows behind his head and shoulders so he was a propped up by them a little as Stiles stripped off his shirt. He watched every movement Stiles made, the fact that he was so eager and nervous kept that small smile plastered on his face. Stiles then took another deep breath and took Derek’s length between both of his hands so that he could begin to stroke him slowly. Once he had calmed himself a bit more, he leaned down so that he could slowly run his tongue along the head of his erection. Derek’s hands flexed a little in response and sigh gently moaned its way out of his lips, the wet warmth of Stiles’ tongue being the cause. His eyes flicked upwards as Stiles placed his mouth on him, the added pressure of Stiles’ tongue on the bottom side as he sucked completely destroying the coherency of his thoughts. _Fuck._ he thought, his hands searching for something to grip, settling on the blanket beneath him, his hands bending up at the wrists as he pulled at the fabric.

Stiles glanced up at Derek for a moment and felt a lot better about how he was doing. He smiled a little and began to slowly bob his head, taking him in a little deeper every time he would move down. A moan of, “Fuck,” strangled its way out of Derek’s mouth, his hands clenching against the blanket as Stiles’ started to test how much he could take in. His feet shifted against the bed, every ounce of Derek’s effort going into resisting the urge to thrust his hips up. He looked down at Stiles, not at all regretting it, the sight of how much Stiles had been able to work in before he’d started to work harder making his breath hitch before he had to lay his head back down. He hummed through his breathing, fingers flexing around the blanket. Stiles pulled off of Derek’s cock so he could look up at him and start grinning.

“Oh my god.” He laughed lightly. “I’m glad that you seem to really be enjoying this.” Derek suffocated a whine before it could get too far, coming out as a short little squeak when Stiles’ pulled off and all of a sudden his cock was _unbearably_ cold.

“Just, hmm...” he sputtered, just before Stiles bit his hip. He couldn’t stop the whine this time, especially after Stiles followed that by basically deep-throating him. “Oh my _God_ ,” he breathed, his toes curling and his hands shaking as he gently placed his right hand on Stiles’ head. He just rested it here, his head leaning back against the pillow, his eyes closed to everything except for the feeling of warmth that was starting to pool in his gut. Stiles glanced at Derek and couldn’t stop himself from letting out a bit of a muffled hum, his voice vibrating on Derek’s cock. He couldn’t stop grinning as he continued to move, moving faster now that he was pretty sure of himself and a lot more relaxed. As he thought about Derek’s hand on his head, he realized that he really should at least try growing it out so that Derek would have something to hold onto whenever they did this.

Derek sucked in his lower lip, letting his hand slip down the side of Stiles face and grip back at the blankets. His breathing was less breathing and more panting at this point and he could feel that he was getting close. He warned Stiles of this fact, the words spilling from his lips quickly so he could actually get them out, “I’m close, where...” He had to paused, stifling a groan. “Where do you want me to come?” He forced out, sucking in breaths between clenched teeth. Stiles paused in his movements and pulled off of Derek, humming to himself as he continued to slowly move his hand over him.

“Mmmm....That’s a very good question.” He smiled up at him, breathing a little heavily. “I think I’ll have to go with....My mouth.” He winked at him before he bent down again to take him back into his mouth. Derek didn’t even bother forming a coherent response, Stiles’ mouth on his cock easily being the best thing to happen to him since they’d last been together like this. His heart was starting to pound audibly in his head, every pulse of it thumping against his neck. It didn’t take long for him to end up a panting mess, a groan hitching in his chest. He couldn’t stop the way his hips bucked up as he came, feeling bad when it made Stiles gag a little. seeing the room through unfocused pleasure, chest heaving. Stiles quickly sat up and covered his mouth as his eyes glazed over. He closed his eyes tightly, trying his best to not make himself choke. Derek groaned as he relaxed against the mattress, short and sharp breaths exhaling their way out. He slipped his eyes closed as he swallowed pretty hard, looking down at Stiles with half-lidded eyes.

“That was amazing,” he sighed to him, letting his eyes close. Stiles had swallowed and was wiping his mouth before he looked back at Derek and grinned as he tried to catch his breath.

“Was it really?” Derek sat up slowly; thankfully his arms weren’t as shaky as his legs were. He brought his hands up to Stiles’ face and pressed a kiss to his lips, not even caring that he could still taste a little of himself on Stiles. He kissed him hard, urgently almost, breaking off and resting his forehead against Stiles’. Stiles looked a little dazed by Derek’s kiss before he pulled away, his mind shorting out a little.

“I’m definitely not opposed to getting more of that,” he said, his voice low and breathy. Stiles laughed a little and nodded.

“Only if you keep kissing me just like that. Deal?” Derek laughed, tilting his head to press a kiss against Stiles’ neck.

“Why don’t you let me take care of you now?” he asked, biting down gently on his neck. He was tired now, honestly, but not enough that he couldn’t repay Stiles before he’d have to just lay down for a while.

“Awww, but you’re so cuddly right now.” He snickered before he let out a groan. “Oh my God, you just need to...never stop biting me. Like ever.” He groaned a little as he ran his fingers through Derek’s hair. “If it keeps up, I’m gonna get nothing done.” Derek let go of Stiles’ neck, not wanting to leave a mark where it would be so /visible./

“What exactly do you need to get done right now?” he asked, scooting so he could locate his boxers. He waited for Stiles’ answer as he slipped them on, going back to how he had been sitting, slipping his hands around Stiles’ waist and lacing his fingers together behind his back.

“Well, right now, nothing, but I mean in general. It makes me wanna never leave.” Stiles snickered a little. He buried his face in Derek’s neck, really liking the way that he was currently being held. “It’s very addicting.” Derek smirked with a tinge of sadness, glad that Stiles’ face was tucked against his neck so he wouldn’t see Derek’s face. He pulled Stiles a little closer against him, pressing his lips tenderly against Stiles’ shoulder.

“Am I your new drug then?” he murmured against Stiles’ skin - his thoughts wandering to what they were doing sitting here like this. He had no qualms about just fucking, that was perfect, amazingly so. But bonding on top of it, that was surely to be a downfall in the end right? He breathed out a light sigh through his nose, resting his lips against Stiles’ shoulder. He couldn’t think about that right now, not when Stiles was sitting so close and all his physical feelings were telling him yes, despite his emotions telling him no.

“Yeah, I think you just might be.” Stiles laughed a little, gently running his fingers through Derek’s hair as he closed his eyes. “I think that we should just relax for a bit, and then eventually either go back to hanging out downstairs, or we can have wicked awesome sex before I go. Maybe I’ll get us a pizza.” He thought out loud, really enjoying everything that was going in between them.

Derek hummed in response, running his fingers along Stiles’ back in no particular pattern. He pressed a few quick but gentle kisses to Stiles’ shoulder, pulling away enough so he could see Stiles’ face. “I think I can manage that,” Derek said.


	8. Warning Signs

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Melo and I seriously cannot believe how much this has picked up since the last update. I mean, wow - the views alone! Thank you all so much and remember to check our tumblr tag (#emissariesandalphas) for fic related YouTube playlists, or if you're feeling up to it - add some things of your own! I myself would really like to get in touch with you guys and get feedback, parts you loved or hated, etc. Again, thank you all so much, <3

Stiles hummed in content and closed his eyes for a few moments when Derek rubbed his back. “Are you just, like, awesome at just about everything?” He asked softly as he opened his eyes again. “Because I’m pretty sure you probably are great as massages.”

Derek laughed, shrugging. “I’m not that awesome, Stiles.” he said and leaned over the bed to locate his jeans where he had his cigarettes and lighter tucked away in one of the front pockets. “But I would like to hear you play drums again. /That/ was awesome,” he said, pointing a cigarette he’d taken out at Stiles before popping the filter end between his lips.

“You’re not that awesome? Okay, we’re gonna stop right there. You can draw, you can tattoo, you can get stoned off of wolfsbane, you can sing like a fucking God, and you have the body to match. Don’t even get me started on anything else.” He stated, raising his eyebrows before he snickered. “I’ll have to keep playing them for you then.”

“Technically drawing and tattoos are the same thing,” Derek pointed out, bowing his head to hide the mild-red blush that he felt was creeping over his face. He’d never really paid attention to how cool it was that he could do all that, just taking it in as a part of himself. Having Stiles point it out was like a realization he wasn’t fully sure whether he liked or not.

“Oh, well excuse me, Mr. Fancy Artist.” He snickered, gently tapping his head to Derek’s. “You’re pretty cool, so just accept it.” He said softly, lowering his head so he could kiss his shoulder. “What if just bit you, like really hard?” Derek hummed out before laughing.

“I might not be able to resist returning that blowjob if you do,” he said, tucking the cigarette he’d had between his lips behind his ear. He’d meant to light it, but forgot about it, and now with how Stiles was talking he might not get to for a bit longer. Stiles laughed along with Derek, shaking his head before he continued to gently kiss over his shoulder.

“Is that so? That’s a pretty interesting reaction.” He said softly, rubbing Derek’s back slowly began he decided to drag his nails down his back. Lightly at first but he began to add pressure little by little each time they went back down, causing Derek’s back to arch slightly in response.

“Hmmm, I like being even with people. You took care of me, so-oh God.” he groaned as Stiles kept scratching at him, digging his nails in harder each time. He brought his hands up, pressing his fingertips against Stiles’ lower back, leaning his head against Stiles’ shoulder. Stiles snickered at Derek’s reaction, wishing he could record it. He hummed lightly to himself, stopping with that hand as he brought his other one up and began to do the exact same thing he had done before.

“You’re so fun to play with. I’m really loving it.”

“You’re going to be the death of me,” Derek muttered, huffing out a breath. He lifted his mouth to Stiles’ shoulder, just a half inch from where the other bite was, gently biting down.

“If it’s death from back scratches, I can live with that.” He said softly, suddenly running them much harder down his back before going gentle again. “And here I thought you would love belly rubs.”

“I prefer having much more sensitive areas rubbed,” Derek quipped back after he’d released his second bite mark on Stiles’ shoulder. This one was definitely not going to last long, but Derek had already refreshed his first one so it didn’t matter too much. The fact that they were just sitting there doing this was starting to bother him though. He couldn’t imagine how he could stay focused on not falling for Stiles any more than he was if they kept having moments like this. Staying in bed after sex (well, a blowjob anyway) was something couples did, and he did not want that definition applied to him in any form – he just wasn’t ready. He put his hands on Stiles arms, gently encouraging him to stop.

“Why don’t we go back downstairs? I can order that pizza you mentioned and while we wait maybe I can get a little more work done on your drawing.” He said. He realized more and more how much of a hypocrite he was, deciding not to do something after he’d already allowed it to happen once before. He was still trying to figure this out in his head without letting Stiles worm his way in too. He was going to lose on both fronts if he didn’t get a grip. He shook himself mentally, fighting the urge to slip his mask on and just ask Stiles to leave, even though he knew that was probably best. Still, he again ignored his conscience, figuring that with the full moon coming up he’d have an excuse to ask Stiles to wait a few days before coming back.

“Yeah, maybe I’ll play a couple songs on the drums for you.” Stiles replied, climbing off of his lap and off of the bed so that he could grab his shirt and put it back on. “Y’know, I think once a week we should have movie night. I can bring my laptop and some DVDs and we can just hang out.” He grinned at him, thinking that would be a pretty good activity. “I haven’t had one with Scott in a long time and I kind of miss it.” He said softly, rubbing his arms for a moment before he looked back at Derek. “If you get pizza, you have got to get some cheesy sticks too. Those are my weakness. Well, one of them anyways.” Derek stayed on the bed for a moment, not moving to put his clothes on until Stiles had put his shirt back on. As he got dressed he could practically hear Stiles’ heart just give up at the mention of Scott and movie night. He finished getting dressed, nodding as Stiles told him about the cheese sticks. He waited to slip on his shoes once he’d gotten his pants, shirt, and socks on.

“You know it might not be a terrible idea if you wanted to bring Scott one of these days.” Derek said, bringing the cigarette he’d tucked behind his ear to sit in his mouth while he dug around for his lighter. “I doubt it would change anything, but you seem to always be a pretty good buffer between us. He and I could try and talk things out and whether he decides to join up with me or not, we could have that movie night.” He paused to shrug.

Stiles nodded and looked back at Derek as he thought about that idea. “Yeah, I’ll try to talk to him about it. Maybe he’ll listen to me and give it a shot.” Stiles smiled widely at him before tugging at his shirt. “God, it feels so weird to not wear a hoodie or a flannel over this. You’re lucky that I’m actually listening to you for once.” He snickered. Derek shrugged in response, bringing his lighter up to his cigarette and sucking in the heat to get the end lit, exhaling the first drag through his nose on accident. He pressed his fingers to his nose and wiggled it around, sniffing to try and clear the uncomfortable feeling he always got when he did that. Stiles slowly smiled wider at the way he wiggled his nose.

“Having fun there, Der-Bear?” He asked, trying out that new nickname just to piss Derek off.

“Drop the bear and I might let that nickname slide,” Derek said pressing down on the tip of his nose and finally getting the feeling to go away. It was weird, like a burning tickle. “Come on, let’s head down. I’ll order the pizza and if you really want to you can go get your hoodie from your Jeep.” He said, knowing full well that Stiles was likely to have brought it with him. He was surprised that Stiles was listening to him about it, at least around him. He wondered if he should take that as a warning sign and sighed inwardly when he realized he probably should.

“Nah, I think I’m okay for now. It’s just a little weird.” Stiles snickered a bit before he laughed harder. “What about Dery-Beary? I think that has a much better ring to it. It goes with that bubbly personality that you have. Besides, you look like a Der-Bear anyways.”

“Okay, I’ll tolerate Der-Bear if you never even think about using that other one again.” Derek said, shaking his head as he started for the stairs that went downstairs to the main room. He hesitated first, remembering his shoes, and then starting his descent.

“Oh, I’m totally thinking about it.” Stiles cackled as he headed downstairs. “I’m thinking about so many things that it makes that second one look like a completely normal little name. I like to think that I’m a mastermind of nicknames.” Derek sighed inwardly, taking a drag from his cigarette as he hit the bottom of the stairs, pulling out his phone and bringing up the delivery number for the pizza place.

“You’re going to have to settle on one eventually,” Derek said, bringing the phone up to his ear as he hit the call button. “What kind of pizza did you want? Same as last time?” he asked, knowing that Stiles had eaten half of the pepperoni one he’d ordered for himself yesterday.

“Nah, I can use multiple nicknames for one person. The trick is you just have to keep finding the perfect time for it.” He replied, looking back at him before he winked at him. “And yeah, that would be great. As long as you want it anyways.” Derek nodded, spending the next couple of minutes on the phone with the delivery guy. He gave them his credit card number so he wouldn’t have to worry about digging out the cash. He honestly was starting to dry up his funds. He’d never been one to put that much money away for savings and he was starting to regret that.

“This may seem random, but do you know of any tattoo shops around here?” He asked, tapping his phone against the palm of his hand. Stiles thought about it as he sat down on the platform before moving to lie on his stomach.

“Uh, there’s for sure one in town. I’ve passed by it multiple times. There’s probably more in the other towns around us. Or maybe I’m missing a few here.” Derek sat down on Stiles’ drum stool, resting his hands on his knees and tapping his ashes after he’d put his phone away.

“I’ll have to look into it tomorrow, maybe drop by and put in an application or something.” He said, frowning. That was going to be difficult with having faked his name at the only shop he’d ever worked at, but if he stopped by a print shop he could make a portfolio which would be enough he hoped.

“Oh my god you’re going to tattoo again?” He asked, pushing himself up so his torso was off of the ground. “If you get it, I am totally coming in to watch you every now and again. I don’t even care, I’ll say I’m apprenticing or something.” He stated, not going to miss out on that chance for anything in the entire world. If Derek was going to tattoo again, no force on earth could possibly stop him from seeing him in action. Derek smirked and laughed quietly through his nose, shaking his head.

“If I can find something.” Derek said and bit at his lower lip for a moment as he again thought about what was coming in the upcoming days. “I’m going to need a few days before we hang out again,” he said, while he was thinking about it. “I need to get Isaac better prepared and there’s someone else that I need to speak with about joining me.” He said, running his free hand through his hair.

“That’s totally.....what?” His train of thought came to a screeching halt when he heard the mention of Derek’s plans of expanding again. “What the hell did you just say?” Derek frowned, raising an eyebrow up at Stiles as he exhaled a drag from his cigarette.

“There’s someone else that I need to speak with about joining me.” He repeated, that being the only likely thing that Stiles could be referencing him to say again. “I can’t rely on hoping that I can change Scott’s mind. You know that better than anyone, you’re his best friend. If we’re going to protect one another, we need to have the strength to do it and I can’t do it with just Isaac.” Stiles let out a groan and dropped back onto the floor before crossing his arms around his head. He mumbled to himself, tapping the front of his converse on the platform as he thought about this. There were so many pros and cons to all of this and it just made him feel so conflicted about it all. Derek sighed through his nose, tapping his ashes into the soda can nearest his hand. He was pretty sure it was Stiles’ can, but it was way past half-empty and at least it wouldn’t add to the mess the warehouse floor already was.

“I get that you don’t like this, but I don’t have much other choice. My only other option is to turn tail and run and I refuse to do that. The only other human I personally know is you, and you don’t want the Bite.” He said firmly, placing his cigarette between his lips and taking a long drag.

“Won’t going around biting people only draw more hunters?” Stiles asked as he looked back at him. He didn’t like the idea of there being more werewolves around him, but he knew that Derek couldn’t just keep running for the rest of his life when this was his home. “I mean, if they want it, there’s nothing I can really do about it, but I just. I don’t want you getting hurt.”

“My uncle killed Kate. As psychotic she was, the Argents aren’t just going to let that go.” Derek said as he exhaled the drag he’d taken, the smoke coming out less and less the longer he spoke. “I’m going to get hurt; everyone is going to get hurt. I’ve accepted that. The only thing I can do is try to minimize the damage and I can’t do that alone.”

Stiles sighed a little and frowned a little up at him. “I hate it when you make good points. It’s really not fair because I want to stay really angry and then you say something that makes me realize you’re kind of right.” He mumbled kind of wishing that he was stronger without the bite so that he could do more than just get research for them. He felt kind of useless having to sit back while Derek was preparing for a war. “Is there anything I can do?”

“There’s one way you can help. Tell me more about that girl you mentioned before, Erica I think?” Derek said, tapping his ashes in the can again. “What kind of person is she?” He asked, taking a drag of his cigarette as he waited for Stiles to answer.

“I don’t really know her that much, she sticks to herself most of the time and I don’t think she really has many friends, if any. She’s epileptic and I think she keeps away from people to be extra careful and not trigger attacks. That’s my guess anyways.” He said with a shrug, knowing that she would probably accept the Bite if he offered it. He didn’t feel right about supplying information for possible candidates for the new wolf pack, but Derek was right. It was better to be giving it to people that actually deserved it. Derek nodded, his way of silently thanking Stiles.

“I’ll wait to talk to her. If Isaac is as quick a study as I’m hoping, maybe he’ll be able to help me out for her first full moon.” he muttered, tapping his ashes in the soda can again. He didn’t say anything more on the matter, the smell of Stiles’ guilt hitting his nose. He understood the point that Stiles was trying to make, but he knew that Stiles understood his - even if he didn’t like it, he knew Stiles understood it. Stiles nodded, resting his head on his arms as he watched Derek. He was silent for a few long moments, trying to think of what to say.

“How long do you want me to wait until I can come over again?”

“At least until the full moon has passed. Isaac’s going to need someone to look out for him and I can do that better if I can focus all of my attention on him.” Derek said, glancing over at Stiles.

“That would probably be best.” He said softly. “I’ll send you a text afterwards and maybe we’ll have a movie night, just you and me, once it’s over and done with.” He murmured before he left out a slight yawn and closed his eyes for a moment.

“Sounds good,” Derek said, bringing his cigarette to his lips and taking one last drag before dropping it into the can, setting it back on the table. He got up, nudging Stiles’ shoulder with his shoe. “If you’re tired you can go home, it won’t bother me. You haven’t gotten much sleep because of Lydia have you?” Stiles groaned a little as he got to his feet.

“Yeah, it’s been so nuts lately...I may have to take a nap.” He said and then groaned again, louder as he remembered. “Oh crap, I can’t. I have to go meet with Scott. It’s Allison’s aunt’s funeral today and he wants to be moral support from a distance.” Derek sighed inwardly, suppressing any biting comments that came to his mind.

“All right, just be careful, okay?” He asked, offering a hand to Stiles to help him to his feet. Stiles took his hand, leaning up to kiss him before he paused. “Uh...Oh, oh crap!” He exclaimed, his memory hitting him like a sack of bricks.

“I don’t know how I forgot, but there’s supposed to be more Argents coming in for the funeral!” Stiles said and Derek’s frown deepened.

“Are you God damn kidding me?” he asked, angrily. “How the hell do you forget to mention something like that?” Derek asked, pulling his hand away from Stiles and locating his jacket. He exhaled sharply as he pulled his coat on, straightening it on his shoulders. This was why he didn’t want to have Stiles get close to him, or vice versa. People were a distraction and he was starting to think maybe that even just having sex with Stiles was a bad idea if it caused this kind of memory lapse for Stiles. He guessed though that he should just count himself lucky that Stiles had remembered at all before leaving. Stiles winced at Derek’s anger, shifting a little on his feet as he looked away from him. He didn’t mean to forget or make Derek angry, but it really had completely spaced his mind.

“Look, Derek, I’m sorry.” He piped up, watching the way that he quickly got ready.

“Whatever, it doesn’t matter now. Go,” he said. “I need to find Isaac and warn him. Please, try and make sure Scott doesn’t do anything fucking stupid.” Derek said, heading for the door to the warehouse. He paused at the door looking over his shoulder. “And let him know they’re not just here for the funeral. They’re reinforcements.” He said, wrenching the door open so it slammed loudly, echoing through the warehouse as he stormed out down to his car. Stiles flinched a little at the sound, taking a slow breath before he grabbed his backpack off the floor and headed out.


	9. Funeral

Once Stiles was at the funeral, he parked away from the other mass amounts of cars so that he could carefully sneak around. He watched for the crowds and the police to make sure that he would go unnoticed before he crouched down behind Scott. “What’s up?” He whispered, glancing around the large grave so that he could see what was going on. Scott jumped a little when Stiles came up behind him, switching his gaze back over to Allison.

“Allison’s family’s here,” Scott said, looking up at the old man who was talking to Allison. “The old guy... that’s her grandfather.” he said, adjusting himself on his foot. He glanced back over at Stiles, sniffing. “Why the hell do you smell like Derek?” Stiles paused at that, realizing that he really didn’t spray himself off with his body spray after he had blown Derek.

“I was hanging out at his place.” He replied before getting to the more important things. “So her grandfather’s in town? Derek said that them being here means they’re reinforcements, but you never know. Maybe there could be non-hunting Argents.” He stated, wondering just how deadly an elderly man could be to a bunch of werewolves. Scott turned his face back, shaking his head.

“Honestly, I think Derek may be right about that one.” He said, pulling a tight-lipped smile and giving Allison a little wave when he noticed at she’d spotted him. Stiles opened his mouth to say something but instantly shut his mouth when his dad pulled them up from where they were hiding.

“The two of you... are unbelievable,” Stiles’ dad said, glaring at them both, but mostly at Stiles. “Pick up my tie,” he said through clenched teeth when he noticed it had gotten pulled off, glancing out at the area the funeral was.

“I got it, I’m sorry. I know, I’m supposed to ask.” Stiles mumbled, shaking the tie to get any leaves and dirt off of it. He was going to have to talk to Scott later about how he’d need to be careful just in case Allison’s grandfather actually was dangerous, or if he brought a bunch of hunters with him. Stiles’ dad steered the both of them to the car, directing Scott to open the back door before having them both climb in. He shut them in, sitting in the car. Stiles was figuring out a very good excuse to use for why they had been hiding out behind a grave. He could use the moral support excuse since that seemed to work out whenever he used it.

“You two, I don’t understand what drives you to do this... You can’t possibly have anything else to do that doesn’t involve - “ John cut off, the radio crackling before someone said, “415 Adam.” Stiles was figuring out a very good excuse to use for why they had been hiding out behind a grave. He could use the moral support excuse since that seemed to work out whenever he used it.

“We’re not done here,” he said, pointing a finger between the two of them before picking up the radio. “I’m sorry, did you say four, one, five, Adam?” John asked into the radio. Stiles leaned forwards so he could hear the radio better. “That’s a disturbance in a vehicle.” He told Scott quietly before listening to what else it had to say.

“Yeah, they were taking a heart attack victim, DOA and on the way to the hospital something hit ‘em.”

“Wh... h-hit the ambulance?” John asked, confused as all hell. Scott looked over at Stiles before looking back at Stiles’ dad, listening.

“Copy that, I’m standing in front of it right now. Something just... Something got in the back and there’s blood everywhere. I’ve never seen anything like this before.” Stiles’ eyes widened at the thought of a werewolf being out in the open since not much else could do something like that and his mind went right back to Lydia. What if she was doing all of this stuff because of her instincts? He wished that he had been only a few moments faster when he had gone to save her from Peter. Maybe he could have stopped him from biting her.

“All right unit 5, what’s your location?” John asked, interrupting Stiles’ thoughts.

“Route 5 and Post. You gotta get down here, sir.” The sheriff sighed, resting his radio against his head for a second. While his father was distracted, Stiles carefully opened the door as silently as he could, motioning Scott to follow him as he quietly got out of the car so that they could go see the ambulance for themselves. If Lydia really was the cause of all this, there were going to need to find her as soon as possible before the Argents did. Scott followed Stiles out of the cruiser, not even bothering to waste time closing the door as he knew Stiles’ dad was about to round on them again before sending them out of the car anyway. He followed him away from the cruiser, his chest finally allowing him to breathe in when they were away.

“Okay what now, ‘cause I didn’t bring my car and you can’t keep up if I run,” Scott said, glancing back in the direction of the funeral. He hated leaving Allison like that, but if whatever had attacked the ambulance was Lydia they needed to find her before anyone else did.

“I brought my car. We can take it and park it away from the ambulance so that we can sneak up to it and see it better.” Stiles replied, looking back at him as he headed the direction of the car. “As long as you can get a good scent off of the ambulance, we’ll be fine and we’ll go from there. I mean, if you can smell her and it’s a fresh scent, it won’t be hard to find her, right?” He asked, feeling more and more worried about her as each day went by.

“Definitely,” Scott said with a little more confidence that he felt. He was worried about Lydia too, but he was also worried about Allison and the fact that it looked like her family was bringing in the big ‘guns’ so to speak. He kept that to himself though, knowing that Lydia was pretty much Stiles’ love - even if she didn’t seem to care about him much with Jackson being so fresh on her mind. Then with all the stuff with Peter and her missing and possibly eating people... he didn’t want to freak Stiles out any more by voicing his thoughts.

Stiles nodding at that, finding that some of the best news that he had heard all day. “Okay, good. As long as we have that, it’ll be easier...I mean, it’s not like she can hide forever.” He said softly to keep himself positive. He tossed his backpack into the back seat once he was in his car so that Scott could sit in the passenger’s seat. “As long as we find her first, everything will be okay.”

“As long as we find her first,” Scott agreed, climbing into the passenger seat and shutting the door behind him.

\---------------------------------------------

Later that night, Stiles waited by the ambulance with his father while Scott went after the scent. He tried to explain why he had gone to the ambulance, but before he could, Lydia had come out of the forest. Completely naked. The initial happiness of finding her quickly faded when he realized that and he had tried his best to get his father's coat off of him, but all he really did was trip himself when he stared at her. His dad ended up bringing his jacket over to Lydia and while he talked to her about where she was, Stiles figured he should text Derek and update him on what was going on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A trigger warning for the next chapter - we're doing the scene were Isaac's dad flips out on him. So, just letting you all know.


	10. Reinforcements

Back at the Lahey house, Isaac has just made it back home in time for dinner. He tried to get through dinner as quietly as he possibly could so that he wouldn’t find a way to accidentally upset his dad. Everything had been going fine and he thought that he would be able to actually get through everything and not have any problems, until his grades were brought up again. Isaac tried his hardest to stall telling him, trying to make it so that he wouldn’t get angry at him. When he finally told him that he had a D, his father took a moment to think about it.

“I’m not angry. But I am going to have to find away to punish you. It’s my responsibility as a parent after all.” His father said calmly, holding his hands together and intertwining his fingers as he thought about. “So, we’ll start with something simple, like uh...You can do the dishes and clean up the kitchen.” Isaac relaxed at his words, finding that a lot better than what he thought his father had in store for him.

“Yeah.” He said softly. His father nodded, taking his mug before he took a sip.

“Good, because I’d really like to see this place spotless.” He shrugged a little before tossing the mug to the floor where it shattered. “You know what I’m saying? I mean this _entire_ kitchen.” He quickly threw his dishes to the floor, the loud noises scaring Isaac and making him jump from his chair so that he could curl up against the wall to keep himself a safe distance. “I want it to be absolutely spotless.” His father stated, picking up the pitcher of water before throwing it at the wall, just above Isaac’s head. Isaac winced, covering his face but still feeling the sting of something cutting him. He winced as he touched his cheek, feeling the glass cutting it before he took the little piece out and grunted at the pain.

“That was your fault.” His father replied with a shrug, having no remorse at all. Isaac could feel himself getting angrier at his father, all of his fear fading at those four simple words.

“You could have blinded me.” He stated, standing up against the wall as he stared his father down.

“Shut up! It’s a scratch!” His father snapped back, glancing at the cut. “It’s hardly even...” He started to turn away before he had to pause and look at him again. The blood from the cut went back up Isaac’s face before the cut healed itself. Isaac’s hand flew up to the cut, feeling it fade before he quickly ran out of the house and got onto his bike so he could get out of there as fast as he could. “Isaac!” His father shouted after him, getting in his car to chase after him. 

As the rain started to pour, Isaac quickly turned in an alley and dropped his bike so that he could run and hide when his father’s car had nearly caught up to him. He ignored his father’s calls for him, curling up and staying as hidden as he possibly could. He didn’t come out until he heard his father’s screams and caught the smell of blood mixed in with the rain. When he rushed out to see what had happened, he froze at the sight of his father’s body in the car, covered in deep slashes. It took everything to get him to move again so that he could pick up his bike and get to Derek’s place as fast as he could.

\----------------------------------------

Derek had just barely gotten home, calmed down already from his incident with Scott. He was half way up the stairs when he heard someone running up the stairs outside. He paused on the stairs, Isaac bursting in a moment later.

“Derek!” He yelled as he opened the door and ran into the warehouse as fast as he could, panting heavily. “Derek, it’s my dad! I think he’s dead!” He was completely panicking, not knowing what they could do about this. Derek frowned as Isaac spoke, walking down the stairs and keeping his eyes trained on him.

“What did you do?” he asked, stopping to stand in front of Isaac, concern and fear on his face.

“That’s the thing...” Isaac started, taking a deep breath. “It wasn’t me. We were fighting and I took off so I could come here, and I had to stop to hide because he almost found me and I...I just heard him screaming. Whatever did it to him took off before I could see it.” Derek frowned nodding, silent for a minute as he thought about what to do.

“You should stay here tonight.” He said finally and glanced at Isaac’s wet clothes, likely from the storm that was passing overhead. “Do you need anything? Clothes, a shower?” He asked, scratching his hands through his hair. “The water pressure’s shit, but it works.” He offered, not really knowing what else to do. He wished that Isaac had seen more of what it was - because he knew what it could be, what it likely was. He’d been ignoring it for the most part, the memories of an Alpha pack, of his mother having to talk to them after his father had died and his mom had become alpha. That was the part of the reason for building his pack that he didn’t tell anyone about, not even Stiles – Hell, especially not Stiles.

“Uh...Just a shirt maybe.” Isaac said softly, ripping Derek from his thoughts as he looked up at Derek for a moment before looking back down at the ground. “What are we going to do?”

“Right now, I’m going to get you a shirt, and you’re going to try and calm down.” Derek said and gestured at the platform. “There’s soda up there, maybe some water. I’ll be right back,” Derek said and walked back up the stairs. Once in his room he rubbed his hands up and down his face, wondering what the hell they were going to do about this mess. They couldn’t do anything to make Isaac look any guiltier than what evidence was in that house. He figured at the very least he could shelter Isaac there for the night and send him to school in the morning. He could keep an eye on him throughout the day and if they arrested him - he could break him out. It wasn’t a perfect plan, but it would work - he hoped. He grabbed a shirt and took a moment to spray down his bed with his body spray, intending on letting Isaac sleep there. He took the shirt with him back downstairs, eyes searching the room for where Isaac had moved to. He was sitting on the platform with a bottle of water next to him, untouched, just staring at his hands as they shook. Derek walked over to him, sitting next to him and offering out the shirt. “Do you need to talk about it?” He asked, raising his eyebrows. Isaac shook his head at that.

“There’s not really much to talk about.” He said softly, glancing up at him for a moment before he looked back down at his feet. Derek nodded, setting the shirt between them and taking out his cigarettes popping one between his lips and lighting it.

“Tonight you can do whatever, but there’s a bed upstairs you can use if you want.” Derek said after he’d taken the first drag from his cigarette.

“Are you sure?” Isaac asked about the bed, not wanting Derek to trouble himself more than he already had.

“I’ve slept on plenty of floors, I’ll be fine for one night,” Derek said. “Tomorrow you should still go to school. It will look even more suspicious to the police if you don’t. If they arrest you, let them - I’ll make sure that you get back out before the Argents can get to you.” He said, looking over at Isaac.

“But the full moon’s tomorrow night right? What are we going to do if they arrest me tomorrow?” He asked, wondering what would happen if he was stuck in a cell for the night. Derek sighed out a puff of smoke.

“Like I said, I’ll get you out. Worst case scenario you’ll be stuck in there for a few hours, but I promise I’ll make sure you don’t hurt anyone, or yourself. I told you when I offered you the Bite, this makes us brothers. I won’t let anything happen to you.” Derek said, and looked over at Isaac again. “Whatever happens, don’t lie to them about your dad. He deserved what he got, but you didn’t do anything. We’ll find a way to clear your name - you just have to trust me that I can do this.”Isaac nodded at that, really liking the way that he worded it.

“Thank you, Derek.” He said softly. He knew that he could really trust Derek from everything that he had said and he knew that Derek wouldn’t betray him or leave him there to rot. “Okay, I’ll tell them everything that went on that night. Everything except mentioning coming to stay with you.” He had heard about Derek being wanted by the police for a brief time and realized that if he mentioned staying with Derek, they would probably find it suspicious. Derek nodded, leaving Isaac to do whatever he wanted before taking a shower himself. The heat of it relaxed him a little, but the drawing in the crate on the floor was a reminder of how just a few hours ago he was actually having fun for one of the first times since Laura had left him in New York. He dried off and changed, spending the night brooding and working on the drawing of Stiles until he couldn’t stay awake anymore, falling asleep in a corner of the platform, back resting against the wall.

\-------------------------------

Stiles had been going back and forth on his phone, after he got out of his detention with the very evil Mr. Harris, going between his calls with Allison and when Derek finally called him. He was trying to find a good plan to stop the hunter disguised as a police officer, but luckily Allison was able to slow him down with an arrow to the leg before she had to go help Scott prepare for his own problems during the full moon. He had picked Derek up so that they could get there faster and plan things easier, turning his car off as he watched the officer through the window. “So the keys to every cell are in a pass-worded lock box in my father’s office. The only problem is getting past the front desk.” He said with a sigh.

Derek shrugged, “I’ll distract her.” He said, tossing his cigarette out the window onto the sidewalk, reaching for the handle to get out.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa! Hang on a moment, you’re not going in there.” Stiles replied, grabbing his shoulder before he could get out of the Jeep. Derek glanced down at Stiles’ hand, then up to his face, seriously confused about what the big deal was. He finally settled his gaze on Stiles’ face, waiting for an explanation.

“Do the words ‘wanted killer’ ring any bells to you? Are you sure you’re really just gonna stroll in there like nothing?” Stiles asked, letting go of his shoulder.

“I was exonerated; I don’t see what the big deal is. I go in there, distract her, you get the key and I’ll do the rest,” Derek said, not taking his handle off the door, but not going in either. Maybe Stiles knew the woman and knew she couldn’t exactly be that easily distracted, or maybe he was just worried about what ‘distract’ entailed.

“You may have been exonerated but you’re still a person of interest.” He pointed out. “Anyways, how are you going to distract her? By punching her in the face?” Derek scoffed, a smile mixed with disbelief on his face.

“By _talking_ to her. Is that your go-to move - just punching people in the face?” He asked, his eyebrows knitted together in confusion.

“Okay, alright, give me a sample then. What are you going to open with?” Stiles asked, wondering if Derek knew how to flirt with random people. Derek sighed, looking over at Stiles, raising his eyebrows.

“Seriously?”

“Yeah, seriously.” The teen stated. “I mean, unless you’ve got other ideas. Besides, I’m starting to think your way of flirting with people is standing there and aggressively staring at them. I mean, it kind of works because you’re hot, but I’m not sure it’ll really work in this scenario. It’s hard to seduce someone with the whole, dead silent creeper act.” He added with a grin.

“I’m actually starting to think about punching you in the face,” Derek said, sighing inwardly as Stiles looked offended. Derek shook his head and looked in at the woman again through the window. “Can we just get this over with? Isaac’s been in there all day and I made him a promise to get him out. If the Argents sent someone, even if Allison slowed them down as you said; we still need to get in there. Now. We don’t have time to argue over my skills with women.”

“Okay, okay, we’ll go in and get the keys. If you’re confident in your skills with attracting the opposite sex, then go right on ahead and I’ll sneak in behind you.” Stiles stated as he got out of the car so they could get this over with.

“Good, come on,” he said, getting out of the Jeep. He didn’t waste time making sure Stiles was staying out of sight, trusting that Stiles was used to doing stuff like this anyway considering how much he knew about the station. He waited at the desk a second, the woman who was there before coming back with a stack of files in her hand.

“Good evening, how can I help... you?” She said as she noticed he was standing there, sounding bored until she looked at his face and she practically reeked of arousal with how instant the shift in her scent was. Derek smiled; this was going to be a lot easier than Stiles was making it out to be.

“Hi,” he said, and smiled; she did the same. “Uh, I had a question... But honestly I’ve forgotten it now, I wasn’t expecting someone so...”

“Me?” She asked, before he could even finish. Derek laughed and she did too - hook, line, and fucking sinker.

“I was going to say gorgeous, but that definitely works to,” he said and even though her skin was a little dark he could tell she was blushing.

“Well aren’t you sweet,” she said with a tinkling laugh. Stiles listened to them, rolling his eyes. Okay, maybe he was getting just a little jealous as he watched the two of them. He made sure that she was distracted, slowly getting past her and to his father’s office.

Once he was in, he went straight to the lock box and started pressing the buttons before he furrowed his eyebrows and moved it, seeing the keys were already gone. He cursed and headed out of the office, carefully wandering the halls to see if he they were still in the clear as he came up with a Plan B.

When he was about to turn the corner, he almost ran right into one of the deputies. “Oh, sorry, I’m just looking for my....” The teenager trailed off as he glanced down and noticed a part of an arrow sticking out of his leg. “Oh crap.” He groaned before the man quickly grabbed him and covered his mouth so that he could drag him down the halls without Stiles screaming for help. Unfortunately for him, Stiles reached for the fire alarm as they passed and pulled it to make the station fill with the deafening sirens.

The hunter cursed and saw that he really didn’t have much time left and dragged Stiles to the cells before he threw him to the floor so he could prepare his shot of wolfsbane for Isaac. Stiles scrambled away before he froze, staring at the cell that had once been holding Isaac. The door was nearly off its hinges and dented from the force that Isaac had been hitting it. The hunter barely had a chance to process that information before he was slammed against a wall by the shifted werewolf. Stiles quickly crawled away on the floor to get to the other side of the room and out of the way as the hunter was slammed against a wall. He dropped his shot in the struggle, trying to fight Isaac off but was quickly knocked out when Isaac slammed his head against the wall.

\-------------------------------------------

Derek kept flirting with her, their laughter halting as suddenly the fire alarm went off. The woman frowned, shaking her head. “Sorry, we have to evacuate,” she said coming around the desk. “I would like to give you my cell number though, so would you mind hanging around or coming back or - oh,” She continued right up until the point that Derek punched her in the back of the head. He swore, knowing he’d never live that down if Stiles found out, running past the counter where he’d seen Stiles run.

He sniffed Stiles’ scent out, unable to breathe when he saw the blood on the ground. ‘God, please don’t be Stiles’ blood,’ he thought - not even thinking about it being the hunter’s until he walked in and saw what was really going on. Stiles was crouched behind a desk, Isaac was standing over the hunter, smacking his head hard against the wall causing him to slump over onto the floor. Derek saw the syringe and crunched it under his boot, looking up at Isaac. Isaac quickly whirled around at the sound, snarling a little before his instincts reminded him that this was his leader. He quickly stopped himself, looking back down at the hunter instead.

“Derek?” Stiles asked, moving out of his hiding spot a little so that he could see him better. Isaac turned at Stiles’ voice, quickly moving to step around Derek so that he could prepare to lunge at the human. Derek’s heart went to his throat. He stepped between Stiles and Isaac and roared, shifting his eyes red. His alpha powers seeped into the roar and demanded that Isaac step back, to shift back to normal, to come back to himself and stop. His claws scraped the palms of his hands as he stood his ground. Isaac quickly cowered to the wall, sliding down it and curling up in a ball to protect himself. Stiles carefully looked around Derek to see what he had just done. Isaac looked up at Derek, completely normal again and breathing heavily.

“How....How did you do that?” Stiles asked, looking up at Derek with wide eyes. Derek took a second to shift back, waiting until Isaac looked up with non-shifted eyes and face. He looked over his shoulder, half turning to look at Stiles, almost laughing at Stiles’ question.

“I’m the alpha.” He said and turned back to Isaac – and well, all chances of Stiles ever being able to control just how much Derek turned him on went right out the window at that. Derek knelt down next to Isaac and placed a gentle hand on his shoulder. “Are you okay? Are you hurt?” Isaac shook his head quickly, shaking a little as he caught his breath.

“I’ll be okay.” Isaac said and Derek nodded, helping the beta to his feet.

“We should go. The alarm’s going to draw the police back here and we can’t be here when they arrive.” He said, and looked over at Stiles. He wanted to stay, at least a moment, just to make sure Stiles would be okay too, but he knew he couldn’t afford it. “Can you handle this?” Derek asked him, gesturing back at the hunter on the ground.

“Yeah, of course I can handle it. Just uh, one moment.” Stiles replied, taking his phone out and typing a message before he showed Derek. ‘When you’re done taking care of him come straight to my house, OK?’ Derek looked at his phone and nodded, giving Stiles a faint smile before turning back to Isaac.

“Come on, through the back,” he said, tapping his fingers on Isaac’s shoulder as he lead the way out to the back door of the station. From there they hoofed it to Derek’s car where he’d left it and drove it down back streets until they reached the warehouse.


	11. Honeysuckle

Derek got out and led Isaac upstairs; turning to face him as soon as they’d shut the door behind him. “I’m sorry I wasn’t there sooner. A lot of stuff happened since they arrested you,” Derek said and ran his hands through his hair. “I shouldn’t have wasted so much time...” he muttered. Isaac glanced back at him before he sighed and sat down on the bed.

“You still came for me and helped me. So you kept your promise. Really, that’s all the matters.” He said softly, shrugging his shoulders a little. “You stopped me from hurting Stiles too, so that’s another good thing. I didn’t kill any innocents on my first full moon.” Derek nodded, leaning against the door frame. He still felt guilty, felt like if he’d have gotten there an hour ago he wouldn’t have had to stop him from doing anything. Just get him to shift back and bring him home; simple... Safe. But Isaac was right, despite it not turning out the way he wanted, it still went the way he’d said. He got him out; he didn’t hurt anyone who mattered.

“For your first full moon, you did amazingly well. Even before I got there.” He said and crossed over to the bed, sitting down next to Isaac with a bit of space between them. Isaac couldn’t stop from smiling a little at the praise that Derek was giving him. “How do you think you’ll be the rest of tonight?”

“I’ll be fine; I think I’m just going to sleep for the rest of the night. It’s been a really long day.” He murmured, stretched as he let out a yawn. Derek nodded, ruffling Isaac’s hair as he got up from the bed.

“Call me if you need me, I’ve gotta go make sure Stiles didn’t make things worse...” Derek said, digging though his carton of cigarettes and taking a pack out, stuffing it in the pocket of his coat as he headed for the stairs.

“Alright, that sounds like a really good idea. Let me know how it went in the morning.” He said softly.

“I will,” Derek said and flicked the light switch off. He watched Isaac for a moment before shutting the door to the room. He took the stairs two at a time, hopping into his car and driving it to Stiles’ house. He stopped about a mile away though, running the rest of the distance – there was no way he was going to let himself get caught just because he parked a little too close.

\-----------------------------------

Stiles had just taken a very long and much needed hot shower so that he could relieve some of the stress for the day, figuring that Derek would be busy for most of the remaining night. As he let the steam left over from his shower seep into his bedroom, changing into his bathroom as he left his loud music continue to play from his stereo. He was playing his super secret relaxation playlist, some of the songs including tracks from Taylor Swift albums.

As he wandered around his room in his towel, he belted out the words along with the songs as they placed. He was happy that his father wasn’t home until later, since he enjoyed getting to give into his guilty pleasure for sappy love songs every now and again. He had just finished singing along to Love Story and was now singing along to Sparks Fly as he finally pulled on his grey shirt that read ‘I support single moms’ with a stripper on a pole printed on it and some of his favorite batman pajama pants..

“Get me with those green eyes, baby, as the lights go down. Give me something that’ll haunt me when you’re not around, ‘cause I see sparks fly whenever you smile!” He sang along with the words, ignoring the fact that this song completely and totally reminded him of Derek. Well, on the plus side, at least no one was here to see it – or so he thought. Stiles whirled around at the sound of the tapping and the moment he saw the look on Derek’s face, he knew that he was totally fucked and never going to live this down. He wondered if he could go and lock himself in the bathroom for the rest of the night so that he could pretend none of this ever happened. He could feel his face heating up all the way to his ears and covered his face with both hands as he groaned and shifted a little on his feet. After a lot of debating, he turned the music off and went over to the window so that he could open it up and let Derek in. “You saw nothing.” He stated.

“Uh-huh,” Derek said, crawling in through the window, leaving it open. “You weren’t just totally having a chick moment. Absolutely not,” he said, voice dripping with sarcasm. He went and sat on the bed, completely skipping over the awkward conversation they might end up having and getting straight to the point. “What happened after I left with Isaac?” Stiles shrugged a little as he plopped down on the bed beside Derek.

“Well, told my dad that I had been looking for him to check on him and when the alarm went off, I turned the corner and saw that the guy had been knocked out and Isaac was already gone by that point.” He replied. Derek nodded, it was a good excuse, a believable one actually.

“Did he actually believe you?” he asked, turning his head to look over at Stiles.

“I really hope so, but I’m pretty sure that he bought it. I’m just waiting to see what happens when he realizes the dude wasn’t a cop.”

Derek snorted, “I doubt the Argents would let anything happen to one of their own.” he said and leaned back on the bed, covering his face with his hands. He laid there for a minute, eventually moving his hands and letting the one closest to Stiles gently brush against Stiles’ wrist. “I’m just glad you didn’t get hurt...” he whispered. Stiles smiled widely, leaning forwards so that he could brush his lips to Derek’s.

“Well, you saved me in the coolest way possible, so thank you.” He said softly, nipping at Derek’s lip before he pulled away. “So basically, I invited you over here so that I can thank you.”

Derek smirked, “You don’t have to thank me.” he said softly, sitting up just enough that he could kiss Stiles’ shoulder. Stiles slowly grinned as he ran his fingers through Derek’s hair, letting out a light laugh.

“Yeah, I do have to thank you. Because now I can find another reason to appreciate just how hot and incredible you can be.” He said softly as he moved his other arm around Derek’s waist. As he rested his head to Derek’s, he took in the smell of his shampoo and just the way Derek smelled in general. “Hey, here’s a question. What do I smell like to you?” Derek frowned as he thought about Stiles’ question.

“Like... in general, or your actual scent?” He asked, shifting his head around so he could look at Stiles’ face. His hands both rested on the arm Stiles had draped around his waist.

“Well, now I’m curious about both since there are apparently two answers.” He said softly, staring into his eyes before he kissed him quickly. Derek let out a quick laugh, just a sharp breath through his nose, turning his head to look up at the ceiling as he thought.

“Typically you smell like the ocean, I think it’s to do with what shampoos and stuff you use.” he said and licked his lips, trying to place what his actual scent smelled like, without the mask of other smells like deodorant, shampoo, body spray, etc. “Your scent is like... honeysuckle, I think it’s called. Sweet, like a flower garden or something.” Stiles grinned at that, resting his head against Derek’s.

“Basically I smell like the late spring, early summer?” He asked with a laugh. “Well, at least I don’t smell bad to you right?” He thought more about what Derek said he smelled like and his smile slowly faded. He buried his face in Derek’s back, his grip on him tightening just a little. “Honeysuckle, huh?” He asked softly. “My mom used to love that. She would always take me to the park and read to me near the honeysuckle bushes. That’s what she always smelled like too.” He could barely remember what else she smelled like, but he knew for sure that there was always the faint smell of honeysuckle when he hugged her. Derek shifted onto his side, pulling Stiles against him. He felt bad now for having told Stiles what he smelled like, but it was the truth. He didn’t know what to say that would make Stiles feel better, so he just hugged him tightly, gently rubbing his back.

He opened his mouth to apologize, closing it immediately as he changed his mind. Stiles buried his face in Derek’s neck, moving his arms around his shoulders and sighing lightly. He wished that his mom was still there sometimes, hating more than anything that the only time he got to visit her was to leave flowers on her grave. He soon took a slow breath and pulled away, looking up into Derek’s eyes again before he kissed him softly. Derek brought a hand between them, caressing Stiles’ face before breaking the kiss. “You should get some rest, you still have school.” He said quietly.

“I don’t really wanna rest right now. I’m enjoying the time I’m spending with you.” Stiles said softly, feeling really comforted by Derek’s presence and touch. He thought of what else to say and let out a light sigh as he decided to just come out with it. “I don’t want you to go.”

“I have to leave at some point.” Derek said, laughing a little. “With Isaac staying at the warehouse now though... this is pretty well our only way to be together.” He muttered, leaning forward to brush his nose against Stiles’. “I plan on enjoying this as long as I can.”

“Awww, we’re having a slumber party?” He asked with a laugh. “Does that mean we can talk about boys, give each other makeovers and everything? I’d love to catch up on some werewolf gossip.” He felt those stupid butterflies in his stomach again when Derek nuzzled him and he found himself unable to stop grinning at him. Derek rolled his eyes with a sigh and shook his head.

“Shut up, Stiles.” Derek said. Stiles was just about to tell Derek to make him and was happy that he actually did. He snickered a little as he kissed him back, running his hair through Derek’s hair in return. He soon pulled away and rested their foreheads together.

“I have decided that are a lot like a banana. You’re all tough on the outside, but you’re really just a big softie.” He teased, poking his sides. Derek clamped his jaw shut to stifle any laughter that wanted to work its way up at Stiles tickling him.

“Of course you had to pick the fruit that’s dick shaped,” he said with a frown, chuckling. “From that, what may we deduce about you?” He asked, nipping his teeth at Stiles’ nose.

“I’m obviously a cherry.” Stiles stated, grinning at him. “I’m sweet, I look good in red, wet on your tongue when you bite down, and mine was pretty fun to pop.” He joked, wiggling his nose a little before he nipped lightly at Derek’s for revenge. Derek actually burst out laughing.

“That might just be the one of dirtiest things I’ve ever heard come out of your mouth.” He said with a snort. Stiles couldn’t help but laugh along with Derek. What could he say? Derek had a very infectious laugh.

“Oh is it really? You’re saying this to someone wearing an ‘I support single moms stripper shirt’?” He snickered, tugging at it for emphasis. “Well, luckily for you, I’m only just getting started. There is going to be so much more where that came from.” He said softly, deciding to piss Derek off by messing up his hair as best as he could. Derek ducked his head down. “Must you?” he asked, lifting his head back up. His hair was thoroughly messed up, that was for sure, sticking out at weird and crazy angles, though Derek couldn’t see. Stiles grinned and started to laugh, burying his face in Derek’s neck so that he could muffle it a little.

“Oh my God!” He cackled, loving how fun it was to mess with Derek. He doubted that he was ever going to stop doing it since it was never going to stop being really fun. “Oh yeah, I totally have to.” He replied when he stopped laughing, sitting back so that he could look him in the eyes again. “I love how you don’t even really try to fight it. You’re just so cute and cuddly and couldn’t hurt a fly.”

“That’s ‘cause payback’s a bitch, Stiles,” Derek said with a cheeky grin and rolled on top of him pinning Stiles’ wrists above his head with one hand and starting to wiggle his fingers against Stiles’ sides. Stiles began to quickly squirm; laughing as he tried to get his hands free so he could escape Derek’s tickling.

“H-Hey no fair!” He exclaimed as he cackled and kicked his legs a little. Stiles couldn’t stop laughing, wheezing and letting out very high pitched screeches when Derek tickled him.

“That’s why it’s payback!” Derek said with a laugh of his own, freezing when he heard footsteps pounding quickly up the stairs. He was off Stiles in a split second and he half-tripped on his way out the window, causing him to fall anyway, landing in the bushes on the ground with a thump and a rustle of leaves. He grit his teeth together, wheezing for a second as he caught his breath. Upstairs Stiles’ tried to stop laughing but only started laughing harder when Derek jumped out the window. Even when the door opened and Stiles’ dad was standing there, looking at his son with a confused look as he was clearly alone and nothing was on the TV or Stiles’ computer.

“Stiles?” he asked one eyebrow quirked up. 

“I-....I heard a...really...funny joke...” Stiles said between his wheezing, tears in his eyes as he rolled onto his stomach. “And...I, uh, just remembered it.” He managed to get out before he went into a fit of laughter again. He couldn’t believe that Derek just actually jumped out his freaking window. John kept looking at Stiles, shaking his head and thinking better of asking anything further.

“All right, um... I’m just gonna do some work downstairs so... just keep it down?” He asked, turning to leave. He gave Stiles one last confused glance before shaking his head again and leaving the room, shutting the door behind him. Stiles was able to finally calm himself down to light snickering as he slowly got to his feet and locked the door behind him. He slowly went to his window, laughing a little when he saw Derek down there, picking leaves out of his hair.

“O Derek, Derek, wherefore art thou Derek? Deny thy father and refuse thy name; or if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love and I’ll no longer be a Capulet.” Stiles said softly, leaning against the window as he tried even harder to not start laughing again. “So, are you going to get your hot ass back up here or not?” Derek glared up at him for a second, shaking his head.

“I just fell like twenty feet, give me a second,” he said, slowly walking to the back of the house and climbing up the same way he’d taken earlier, “Why don’t you join me out here a minute?” He asked once he’d climbed back up, sitting down on the ledge outside Stiles’ window.

“Ha, ha, no. I’m pretty happy with not being the one to actually leap out of a window and fall into the bushes. I thought you were supposed to be graceful.” He grinned at him.

“Hard to be graceful when you trip trying to dive out a window.” he said, shifting his back against the wall, as he dug out his cigarettes. “I’m blaming you one hundred percent, by the way.”

“I guess I’m going to have to just make it up to you then.” He replied with an exaggerated sigh and climbed out of his window carefully and he sat down beside Derek. He placed his hands on his cheeks, kissing him deeply. Derek laughed into the kiss, hissing lightly between his teeth when Stiles nipped at his lip.

“It won’t be that hard to do, if you keep that up,” Derek said, ruffling his hand over Stiles’ head before he took out a cigarette. Stiles slowly grinned at that, raising his eyebrows as he pulled away.

“Oh really? And what if I was to...I don’t know, do this?” He asked before he moved Derek’s jacket and shirt so that he could bite down on his shoulder.

“Yeah, that... that’s definitely doing something,” Derek murmured wrapping his arms around Stiles’ waist so he could make sure they wouldn’t fall.

“Just something?” He snickered, running his tongue lightly over the indent that his teeth made before he bit harder. Derek hummed, resting his head back against the window sill. 

“Okay, back inside,” Derek said, slipping his hands under the back of Stiles’ shirt. “Now.” he said, as firmly as he could.

“Awww, I’m turning you on, aren’t I?” He snickered at him as he lightly bumped their noses together. “I’m pretty sure that I could bite you all night long and just watch your reaction to it.”

“I’ll promise to try and be quiet,” Derek murmured gently tracing his nails down Stiles’ back. “Whatever we end up doing.” he added, pressing his lips against Stiles’, pulling him a little closer. Stiles grinned against his mouth, carefully moving so that he could climb onto his lap and straddle his hips.

“Are you sure? Or would you possibly jump out the window again? There’s only so much that those bushes can take.” He asked once he pulled away.

“What other options do we have?” Derek asked, adjusting his legs and his grip on Stiles so that he could keep hold of him. “I can be quiet when I need to.” he said, smirking up at Stiles.

“Well, then it looks like we’re going to have to go and test out my bed.” He shrugged his shoulders a little, slowly smiling widely at him. “At least the plus side of this is that you can hear if my dad is coming. Or does that focus fade when you’re totally aroused?”

“It does, but only if I let it,” Derek said with a shrug. “I got it covered, don’t worry.” he said, leaning up to plant a quick kiss against Stiles’ neck. “Come on, you first,” he said.

“Oh my God, I am officially addicted to you kissing me there.” Stiles mumbled, getting to his feet carefully so that he could climb in through his window. Once he was in, he held his hand out to Derek so that he could help him through. Derek chuckled, taking Stiles’ offered hand and following him in. He put his cigarettes away, stripping his jacket off and tossing it on Stiles’ computer chair. He turned back to Stiles’ cupping his face in his hands and pressing their lips together, backing Stiles towards his bed. Stiles grinned against his mouth and moved his arms around Derek’s waist as he moved with him. When the back of his knees hit the bed, he fell back on to it and pulled Derek down with him. He laughed a little against his mouth and slid his hand under the back of his shirt so he could quickly run his nails down his back hard.

“I bet I know why you’re so quiet,” Derek breathed, goose bumps forming on his skin. He lifted away from Stiles just enough that he could pull his shirt off. He tossed it somewhere in the direction of the floor, slipping his hands under Stiles’ shirt and grabbing his hips, moving him further up the bed so they were actually completely on the bed.

“Oh really? And why exactly is that, Dery-Beary?” Stiles asked, deciding that he was rather fond of that ridiculous pet name. “Maybe I’m just admiring the view.” He added as he motioned to Derek’s body. He looked him up and down slowly, grinning to him before leaning up so he could bite him just under his collarbone.

“Your dad,” he said, ignoring the nickname and pushing Stiles’ shirt up, trying to work it off of him. “I lived in a house full of werewolves, I couldn’t just try and be quiet,” he continued, leaning down to Stiles’ chest, pressing kisses along his sternum. “You... stifling every single sound that tries to force its way up.” he paused, grinning up at Stiles. “That comes from practice, making it become instinct.” Stiles smiled back at him, biting his lip and nodding.

“I guess that’s probably true.” He said softly, running his fingers through Derek’s hair this time as he smoothed most of it back into place for now. He’d have many chances in the next short while to pull at it and mess with it. He sat up a little so that he could take his shirt off; tossing it aside so it could join Derek’s on the floor.

“It is true,” Derek said confidently, working on getting Stiles’ jeans undone. “Works out for what I have planned.” He said, smirking at Stiles.

“Oh God, I’m not sure if I should be really scare or really aroused, so I’m just going to be both.” He snorted lightly as he lifted his hips for him to help get them off. Derek chuckled, sliding Stiles’ pants down. He tossed them on the slowly growing pile of clothes.

“Relax, I won’t bite... much.” He said, adding the last bit as an afterthought. He positioned himself between Stiles’ legs, kissing his inner thighs. “I’ll save it for after though, I promise.” He said, kissing his way towards Stiles’ hips.

“Oh no, that’s totally fine. Feel free to bite me just about anywhere and everywhere. That’s totally fine with me.” He said softly before biting his lip as he watched Derek. “God, it’s not fair how good looking you are.”

Derek smirked, “You won’t want me biting where I’m about to put my mouth.” Derek murmured, lifting Stiles’ cock into his hand, running his thumb along the underside, stroking it. He circled his tongue around the tip before covering it with his mouth, sucking gently. Stiles quickly sucked in a deep breath, his hand quickly flying up to his mouth so he could cover it and hide his noises. He closed his eyes tightly as he tried to keep quiet and gripped his bedding with his free hand. He squirmed a little under Derek to make himself more comfortable and tried to focus on not alerting his dad that he was getting a blowjob from someone he had recently temporarily arrested. Derek smirked slightly, resisting the urge to move Stiles’ hand away from his mouth. Were they at the warehouse he would have done it in a heartbeat - but they were in Stiles’ room, trying to be quiet.

Thankfully, Stiles’ dad was making good on what he’d said and was doing paperwork downstairs. Derek wrapped his fingers around the base of Stiles’ cock, working them up as he brought his mouth down, repeating the motion. He reached out with his free hand, lacing his fingers with Stiles’ hand that had been gripping at the bed. He gave his hand a squeeze, his tongue working on the underside of Stiles’ cock, keeping a light bit of pressure as he started to bob his head, working in time with his hand. Stiles squeezed his hand tightly, letting out a low whimper as he tried his best to keep all of his sounds muffled. He made the mistake of looking down at Derek and let out a low moan before he threw his head back as he tried his best to keep his hips still.

“Derek...” He breathed out shakily, swallowing hard before he cursed and covered his mouth again as he toes curled. Derek let off a little, dragging his tongue along the underside of Stiles’ cock, making Stiles hiss and whimper at the loss of him.

“Not yet,” he said, pressing kisses along the side of Stiles’ cock as Stiles squirmed in protest. “Where’s your lube?” he asked, stroking Stiles’ cock as he waited. Stiles tried to give an actual answer but didn’t fully trust himself to actually speak. He motioned to the end table beside his bed before deciding the best thing he could do to stay quiet was take his pillow and cover his face with it. Derek nodded, grabbing it as quickly as he could.

“That’s not necessary,” he said as he settled back where he was, pulling the pillow away and kissing Stiles’ cheek. “We’re fine, you can make some noise.” He promised, though he wouldn’t stop Stiles if he decided to put the pillow back.

“I’m pretty sure that if I make some noise we’re gonna get – ” Stiles’ voice cut out uncontrollably, Derek having warmed up some lubed in his fingers, shifting Stiles’ legs around so he could have access to his ass. After he’d worked a finger to rub against Stiles’ hole, he brought Stiles’ cock back to his mouth, stroking it as he mouthed the tip.

“Oh, my fucking god...” He groaned out quickly, arching his back as he quickly covered his mouth so that he could quiet himself again. He began to squirm a little again and closed his eyes tightly as he let out a light whimper. “J-Jesus Christ, Derek.” He whispered, licking his lips as he glanced back down at him again. Derek chuckled lightly through his nose, easing a finger into Stiles as he put more of Stiles’ cock into his mouth, just gently sucking. He wanted Stiles to last as long as he possibly could. He softly brushed his finger along Stiles’ inside, sighing happily through his nose. The more Derek touched him, the more Stiles became even more of a wreck. He began to murmur a jumbled mess of words, whimpering out Derek’s name as he tangled his fingers in his hair.

“Please...I just...Derek, _fuck._ ” He gasped lightly, letting out a light keening noise. Derek flicked his eyes up to Stiles’ face, starting to use his tongue again against the underside of Stiles’ cock. He was doing well at being quiet, but he could hear the sheriff shifting around downstairs and he couldn’t chance that the sheriff would stay down there. He pressed his finger in Stiles gently, probing around until he felt where he knew Stiles’ prostate was from the first time they’d had sex. He pressed against it gently, taking as much of Stiles into his mouth as he could. He sucked a little harder, focusing on breathing through his nose. He was avidly trying to get Stiles to come now, and he did his best to prepare for it while keeping his ears listening for Stiles’ dad.

Stiles quickly covered his mouth with both hands, crying out and throwing his head back as he accidentally bucked his hips a little. Derek rode out Stiles’ bucking, thankful that he was expecting it. He pressed the fingertips of his free hand into Stiles’ hip, not letting go. “O-Oh, fuck. Oh, my God, Derek...Gonna - fucking Christ - come, can’t. Can’t hold it.” He said quickly, keeping his eyes closed tightly as he struggled to focus. He quickly began to mumble incoherently, begging Derek as quietly as he could – Derek just kept going, even a little faster. Stiles bit down on his hand hard, muffling the shout that tried to force itself out of his mouth when he came. He bucked his hips up a little again, stopped from rising too much by the constant pressure Derek was putting on him, and panted heavily as he slowly pulled his hand away from his mouth.

“God damn...” He exhaled shakily, letting his arms lay limply at his sides as he tried to catch his breath. Derek carefully swallowed what was shot into his mouth, afterward pulling away and wiping at the corners of his mouth. He heard Stiles’ dad’s footsteps on the stairs and he looked over at the door, slowly removing his finger from Stiles and covering Stiles’ mouth with his clean hand. He waited until the John’s footsteps entered into a room, a door closing behind him before Derek even thought about relaxing. He exhaled through his mouth, laughing a little as he looked back over at Stiles, moving his hand away. “That was close,” he whispered. Stiles quietly laughed breathlessly and tried to gently pull him up.

“Yeah...Very close.” He murmured, watching him fondly. “So uh...stay the night. Just sleep in here with me.” He mumbled, closing his eyes for a few moments. Derek smirked, messing around with the blankets for a moment until he was cuddled up under them next to Stiles, his back resting against the headboard.

“All right,” he said, kissing the top of Stiles’ head. “I’ll stay the night.” He whispered, wrapping his arms around Stiles’ shoulders. Stiles nodded and curled up against Derek before he closed his eyes. He rested his head on his shoulder, moving his fingers over Derek’s stomach so he could gently trace his abs.

“Good. You’re pretty awesome to cuddle with so I’m really looking forward to sleeping with you.” He murmured, smiling tiredly as he made himself more comfortable. Derek just hummed in response, rubbing his hand up and down Stiles’ back. Eventually Stiles’ breathing changed and he knew he should probably go while Stiles was asleep, but he stayed, absently looking down at Stiles as he traced nonsense designs on his back. Eventually Stiles rolled over in his sleep, bringing half the blankets that were on Derek with him. Derek let out a soft, quiet chuckle, shaking his head.

He gingerly got up from Stiles’ bed, putting his shirt back on, his coat too. He paused, glancing over at Stiles. He thought about leaving a note, lying and saying Isaac texted him or something believable like that, but he couldn’t bring himself to do it. He felt like he needed something better than that, to let Stiles know – basically – how glad he was that Stiles hadn’t been hurt.

About fifteen trips back and forth later, and about six hours closer to morning, Derek had finally finished his little ‘glad you’re not dead or dying or injured’ surprise to Stiles. He’d found the only park in Beacon Hills with honeysuckle and after trying to collect as many flowers as he could without killing the plants, he and had spread it _all over_ Stiles’ room. There were blossoms everywhere - different kinds too, ranging from the bright pink Coral kind to the Blue leaf kind. Once he was done, he snuck back out again, heading back to the warehouse. There he took a quick body spray shower and passed out in the corner where he’d slept the night before. He probably only got about four hours sleep before Isaac woke him up again.


	12. Erica and Ice

When Stiles’ alarm went off, he slowly sat up and opened his eyes before he quickly furrowed his eyebrows. What in the hell had happened to his room while he slept? He almost wondered if he was still dreaming, and if this was just some strange place between the real world and his dream world since he had been dreaming about the times his mother took him to the park when he was little.. When he woke up more and saw the flowers were still there, he smiled to himself, realizing what Derek had done. He shook his head a little and laughed a little at the image he got of Derek actually digging through gardens with his hands. He’d have to ask him if he found any bones when he was digging. He made a mental note to remind himself that he needed to really thank Derek the next time he talked to him. Maybe he could give him a gift. He quickly packed up for school and left after he closed his bedroom door behind him so that his father wouldn’t see the mass amount of flowers left in his room. If he did ask about it though, he could just joke that he was being courted by a secret admirer.

\------------------------------------------------

The first class of the day was Gym with Coach and their exercise for the class was the rock climbing wall. Stiles had been paired up to go against Erica, but he didn’t pay much mind as he quickly scaled the wall and dropped back down. Erica hadn’t even managed to get half way up the wall before she began to hyperventilate, her fear of heights quickly coming into play. She closed her eyes tightly as she tried not to cry, not wanting to trigger a seizure when she wasn’t even on the ground. When she had permission to come down, she tried her best to ignore the snickers and ridicule of her classmates as she headed back to the locker room.

When everyone had cleared the gym, she headed back in and tied her hair back to keep it out of her way before she began to climb without a harness. She pushed herself and pushed herself until she could taste the familiar coppery tang of blood and knew that she was going too far. She didn’t remember what happened after that, blacking out when she began to seize. When she came to, she was in the hospital with Nurse McCall looking after her.

\------------------------------------------------

Derek talked to Isaac for a little while before leaving him at the warehouse, inviting him to do whatever he wanted so long as he didn’t go through Derek’s stuff or leave the warehouse. He left for the school, planning on moving onto the next stage of his plan to grow his pack - the setback being that when he got there he saw Erica being carted away into an ambulance. He frowned, following a ways behind it. It didn’t take long to reach the hospital and he kept track of where Erica was by following the sound of her heartbeat through the halls of the hospital.

He sat in the waiting room and pretended that he was reading through one of the random six month old magazines until he heard Scott’s mom leave the room that Erica was in. He waited a moment before going over to the door, checking that no one was around before going in. Erica was sleeping, so it was simple enough starting to walk her towards the morgue where he knew for a fact the attending doctor there was otherwise... Occupied, for lack of a better word. She woke up a little on the way and he shushed her, “Lie still.” He said, pushing the bed through the doors of the morgue. Stepping around the bed he pulled out the pill bottle he’d found on the table in the room, her name on the label. “Side effects may include anxiety... Weight gain, acne, ulcerative colitis...” He made a disgusted sound, not even wanting to know what that was. Erica couldn’t stop the fear prickling up her spine as she slowly sat up, staring at the stranger as she tried to calm her breathing down. She tried to quickly see if she could place his face anywhere, but she had no recollection of ever meeting him anywhere in her entire life.

“Who are you?” She finally asked, mustering up the courage to speak up. She swallowed hard, wondering if she was actually dreaming because there was no way a guy this good looking would ever talk to her, despite the uneasiness she was feeling. Derek looked over at her, smirking as he sat her pills down.

“Let’s just say we have a mutual friend.” He answered, crossing his arms over his chest. “You get a warning... before you have a seizure, don’t you?” he asked, taking a slow step towards her. Erica nodded slowly and sighed through her nose as she tried to calm her nerves.

“It’s called an Aura...It’s like this...It’s like a metallic taste in my mouth.” She said softly, looking away from him. She felt herself almost gag at the mention of it and lightly bit her lip as she tried to swallow the feeling down. Derek uncrossed his arms, reaching out and turning her face to look at him. Her heartbeat was already pretty fast, she was scared, but there was a little skip when she spoke - lying to him.

“You can tell me the truth, there’s no reason you should need to lie to me. I won’t judge you.” He said, looking at her seriously. Erica furrowed her eyebrows a little, feeling really nervous about talking about it.

“It tastes like blood.” She said softly as she slowly looked up at him and into his eyes. Derek nodded, letting his hand fall from her face and go back to his side.

“What if I told you that I knew of something that could make that go away?” He asked, slowly stepping towards the foot of her bed. “The side affects... the symptoms, all of it,” he paused, resting his weight on his hands, placing them on either side of her feet on the bed. “I can do that for you.” There was nothing more that Erica wanted than to have all of that go away. If she didn’t have to deal with that, then she could be normal, she wouldn’t have to worry about all the things that triggered her attacks anymore, and maybe she would be able to start making some friends. She let out a quiet nervous laugh, gripping the edges of the bed.

“How can you do all of that?” She asked him. Derek smiled at her.

“It’s easier if I just show you.” He said and let his eyes shift red. Erica’s eyes widened at the sight of his eyes changing, her breath catching in her throat as she stared into his eyes. She couldn’t take her eyes off of his, completely enraptured by the way they glowed. “I have the ability to heal, to run at speeds you couldn’t imagine,” he said. “I can hear things you can’t, your heart beating in your chest. I can smell things too, how nervous you are, and you don’t have to be. I’m happy to give you this gift, if you want it, but there’s... a sort of hitch.” He said, pausing to gauge her reaction, to let her take that in before he continued.

“What’s the hitch?”

“Being this way, it’s amazing - I promise that, but there’s people out there. Hunters, who don’t understand that we’re not the bad people here. If you accept this gift, I’ll protect you and teach you how to protect yourself from them, to protect others. That’s the price,” Derek said, “You can say no, only on the condition that you keep this a secret. If you say no, we never had this conversation, and you don’t know who I am.” Erica didn’t have to think about it long, even with the risk of having people after her. She had always thought about what she would do if there was any chance of being able to live a normal life and this was it. While she wouldn’t be entirely normal, she wouldn’t have to live her life feeling weak all the time.

“Yes,” She started, smiling a little as her heart beat faster in anticipation. “I want it.” Derek grinned and went back around to her side, lifting her arm.

“You may want to look away,” he said, shifting fully and sinking his teeth into her arm as she gasped out. His mouth filled with her blood and he let go, knowing that was enough to change her. He turned to the sink and spat it out, fighting back a shudder - that was by far the worst part of giving someone the bite, the taste of their blood in his mouth.

“It will take a few hours for the Bite to take effect, but you are welcome to leave here with me and meet the other.” he said, wiping at his mouth with his thumb as he grabbed a bandage for her arm. He wrapped it up as he waited for her to answer. She rubbed her arm a little to help make it feel a little better.

“So, there’s another one?” She asked him curiously, wondering just how many people he had been offering this gift to.

“Just one that I’ve offered it to, you may know him.” He said, tossing the leftover bandages and stuff on the table. “His name’s Isaac Lahey.” He said and pulled off his coat, offering it to her.

“Wasn’t he on the news recently?” She asked him curiously, thinking that’s where she had also heard that name. She pulled his coat on over the hospital gown. Erica recognized the name, but she had never really had the chance to talk to him in school.

“Probably… come on, I’ll run you by your house so we can get you some clothes that are a little more flattering than whatever you were wearing.” He said and grinned at her, noticing the acne scar on her chin was already smaller. “Your face is already clearing up..” Erica slowly smiled and started to look really hopeful. “Is it really?” Derek nodded at her.

“Come on, you can check yourself out later. Your nurse is probably already looking for you,” he said and offered out his hand to her. Once she took it he led her through the hospital, out the back door where he’d left his car in the staff lot. He opened the passenger door for her, shutting it behind her once she’d climbed in, getting into the driver’s seat and starting the engine.

“You’ll have to tell me how to get to your house,” he said, pulling out of the parking space and heading towards the road. Erica pulled down the sun visor, looking in the mirror for a moment before she smiled wider. It really was working already.

“It almost feels like this isn’t real.” She said softly before she closed the visor. “I live kind of near the school, so the easiest way to get to my neighborhood is by taking 5th street.” She added, really excited about this. “So uh...With you and Isaac, and now me, is it kind of like a family?” Derek nodded, taking off in that direction.

“It is.” he said, shifting gears as he got up to speed. “The proper term for what we are individually is werewolf, and just like real wolves we have packs. I’m your alpha, the leader. You’re a beta, just like Isaac. Together we’re pack, brothers and sisters brought together by the Bite.” He said and turned down a side road that he knew would get them to 5th street a little faster. “My name’s Derek, by the way. Derek Hale.” He said, glancing over at her.

“So, werewolves are real then.” She murmured, knowing that Derek wasn’t lying because he couldn’t just change eye color out of nowhere off and on, and he couldn’t just grow fangs. She didn’t mind the news of suddenly knowing that there were really monsters out there, because she didn’t consider Derek a monster when he was giving her a gift that she could already tell was a blessing. “I’m Erica, but I feel like you must already know that.” Derek smirked, already turning onto 5th street. Benefit of short city roads and a fast car.

“It’s okay, but yeah, I already knew.” he said and shifted his car again, going the speed limit as he was sure they were close to Erica’s home by now, but not knowing which house was hers. “Where now?” he asked, tapping his thumb on the steering wheel.

“Make a left at the first turn and it will be the one at the end.” She replied, motioning to the street. “Where are you staying?” She asked him curiously before thinking of another more important one to ask. “What do we do about full moons?”

“I’ve got a warehouse rented in pretty cheaply. I don’t have much in the way of spots to sleep there, but I don’t mind too much.” he said and bit at his lower lip, realizing that he’d have to get some more mattresses or something if Erica was going to stay there too. At the very least one more mattress, he was tired as hell of sleeping on the floor already. “Full moons are always the hardest the first time ‘round, but Isaac did well. I think if we keep on track with his training and yours, we won’t have many problems.” He glanced over at her before pulling into the driveway of the last house.

“For you though, being a female, you have to worry about your personal cycle too, not just the full moon.” He said, turning the engine to his Camaro off. “We can get into more of that later,” he said and turned in his seat to face her a little more. “Do you need me to go with you?” He asked, hitching a thumb at her house. Erica nodded at that, hoping that it wouldn’t be too difficult for her to get used to having to deal with the full moon.

“My parents are working, so you can come inside with me if you want.” She wasn’t sure what she could change into. “Is it easier to deal with after the first time?” She wondered aloud curiously before she glanced back at her house.

“For some it is, for some it isn’t,” he said and followed her gaze before looking back at her when she started talking.

“Are we going back to your warehouse after this then?” If they were going to train, she would need to find something comfortable. Maybe more of her gym clothes. He tried to keep up with her questions, she was asking a lot of them, unsurprisingly.

“Unless you’d like to go back to school?” He asked, not really expecting her to say yes to that. What kid actually wanted to go to school? Erica thought about it for a moment, opening the sun visor again so she could look in the mirror. She couldn’t help but smile at herself again, her confidence quickly boosting.

“It wouldn’t hurt to stop by for just a minute.” She said with a shrug. Derek smirked, figuring he knew what she meant by that. She felt beautiful for the first time in probably years, she wanted to show it off.

“Let’s get you something to wear then,” he said, opening his door to the car. He jogged around to meet her on the other side. Erica got out of the car, putting her hands in the pocket of Derek’s jacket as she headed up to her porch. She took her keys out of her backpack and unlocked the door before heading in and motioning for Derek to come in. “I think I have something good to wear.” Derek followed her inside, nodding. The inside of Erica’s home was nice, definitely nicer than where he and Isaac were - despite how much he’d tried to clean the place up. He shut the door behind him and tucked his thumbs in his belt loops.

“You can follow me to my room.” She said softly, not really minding it too much for now. She headed upstairs to her room and left her door open before opening her closet so that she could go through it. Derek shrugged, following her up. The three scents in the house melded together nicely, though Erica’s was swiftly changing. He brought out his phone, typing up a message to Isaac, _‘Bringing home a friend. Should be there in an hour or so.’_

_‘Is it Stiles?’_ Isaac texted back. Derek rolled his eyes as he read Isaac’s reply. 

_‘No, it’s not Stiles.’_ He texted back, glancing up as Erica went into her bathroom. He didn’t have to wait too long for her to come back out wearing a white low cut shit and a mini skirt and _holy fuck_ the change was definitely for the better. She held Derek’s jacket back out to him. “Thank you for letting me use it.”

“Not a problem,” he said, taking his jacket back from her as he got up. “Ready to make your debut?” He asked, smirking at her. Erica nodded at that and smiled at him as she pulled on her own jacket.

“Yeah, I’m all ready. Thank you again, for giving me this gift.” She smiled wider, slipping her heels on before she grabbed a spare change of clothes so that she could change when they got to the warehouse.

“You’re welcome,” He said, slipping his jacket on and leading the way downstairs. He hopped in his Camaro, starting the engine before popping her door open for her, turning the radio onto the CD he had in (Three Days Grace, because of course he couldn’t get it out of his head lately). He put the volume up moderately, enough that they could hear each other talk over it if needed. Erica lightly tapped her fingers against the door on her side along to the beat of the music until they pulled up to the school.

“I’ll be right back. I’m just going to pick up my homework and we’ll get out of here.” She told him before she got out of the car. She took a deep breath, having second thoughts for a few moments before she headed inside.

Derek nodded to her as he shifted his car into park, “Have fun.” He said with a small smile, digging into her pocket for his cigarettes, deciding to smoke one while he waited.

\------------------------------------------------

As she went through the halls, she was already starting to get a lot of attention. She quickly started to really get into it, smiling widely as she felt more and more confident. When she got to the lunch room, all eyes were on her and everyone had to stop what they were doing and check her out. She grinned and grabbed an apple from someone’s tray, winking at them as she took a bite before she glanced over at Scott and Stiles’ table. She could smell that Scott was just like her and found that a very interesting turn of events. When she headed outside so she could leave, Stiles and Scott ran after her as fast as they could. Erica headed over to Derek’s car and smiled widely as she looked back up to Stiles and Scott before getting in. It took a few moments for Stiles to process that it was Derek’s car before he inwardly groaned a little. Derek sure didn’t waste any time with biting people.

Derek was just finishing his cigarette as he saw her come back out, flicking the filter onto the ground and watching her as she got in. Once she was in he looked over, seeing Scott and Stiles there.

“See you around Scott,” he called with a grin, rolling his window up as he pulled away from the curb, heading for the warehouse. He laughed as he started them towards the warehouse. “Looks like you definitely made an impression,” he said, glancing over at Erica. Erica nodded at that, unable to stop grinning.

“I think I can get really used to it. That was one of the greatest feelings that I have felt in my life. I’ve never felt so powerful.” She beamed, feeling her heart pound at the excitement. She couldn’t wait to continue having this feeling. Derek grinned over at her.

“You never have to feel powerless again, not with me.” He said, continuing on the way to the warehouse. It took them about thirty minutes to get there, reaching the warehouse just in the amount of time that Derek had promised Isaac they’d get back.

“It’s not much, but... it works,” he said, turning his car off and stepping out, shutting the door. “Isaac! Come say hi,” he called up, motioning for Erica to follow him as he took the stairs. Isaac came downstairs, eating some of the leftover cold pizza that they had, looking over the new member of the pack.

“Hi.” He replied, both of them sizing each other up for a minute. “Welcome to the family.” He added. Erica grinned at that and nodded.

“It’s good to be a part of it.” She said and Isaac glanced over at Derek, finishing his piece of pizza.

“So will we still be doing one-on-one training or will you mostly both be training us at the same time?”

“Right now I just want you two to work together. You’re going to be fighting together; you should know how each of you are - learn to balance your strengths and weaknesses off of each other, to be pack.” Derek said, and glanced over at Erica. “Isaac, work with Erica on her shifting. We’re taking a trip later tomorrow and I want her prepared. I’ll step in only if I have to.”

\------------------------------------------------

Later that evening, Stiles had managed to get Boyd to lend him his keys to the ice rink so that he, Scott, Allison, and Lydia could all go out and have a good time away from all of the supernatural creatures that they had to deal with. Stiles thought that this was a pretty awesome idea himself since they had it all to themselves. He unlocked the door and turned the lights on before he put the keys back in his bag and motioned them all in. “This is going to be so cool!” He grinned, pretty proud that they got to do something like this. 

Once they had gotten their skates, he sat on the bleachers beside Lydia as he put on his skates and tied them, making sure that they were tight around his feet. Lydia seemed to be done already and rubbed her hands together. “Could it possibly be any colder in here?” she commented, pulling her jacket closer around herself, tugging down her sleeves and looking out at the ice.

“Oh, hang on.” Stiles piped up, reaching into his bag and pulling out an orange shirt that she could use to help get a bit warmer. “You can borrow this, it’ll probably make it a little easier to deal with.” Lydia looked down at what he had offered out and her eyes were accosted with a disgustingly bright orange shirt. She glanced between him and the shirt.

“I’m wearing blue,” she said, focusing her eyes on him. He didn’t answer for a few seconds, looking really confused, and she tutted. “Orange and blue?” she said, holding up a finger and shaking it, “Not a good combination.” she said, leaning back over to adjust her leggings. “I’ll be fine,” she assured him, straightening the bow she’d tied on her skates.

“But those are the colors of the Mets...” He tried to defend the color combination before he shrugged and put the shirt back into his bag. He rummaged through it for a few moments before taking out a pack of Reese’s and offering the package to her. “What about this kind of orange?” He asked curiously. Lydia glanced up, tilted her head, making an entertained laugh as she snatched the package from his hand.

“Maybe you’re not so dull,” she said, pulling open the packaging and taking out one of the cups, giving him back the other one. Stiles smiled a little, shaking his head a bit. He thought about it a little, wondering why he was still trying to impress her. He still found her very attractive, but he didn’t feel quite the same way about her as he always did growing up.

“I like to think of myself as very _not_ dull.” He replied, shrugging his shoulders a little. “You know...Maybe orange and blue isn’t the best but sometimes there are other things that you wouldn’t think about as being a very good combination, but they end up turning into the perfect combination. Like two people together, who nobody ever thought would be together ever.” Lydia listened to Stiles, resting her arms across her stomach as she listened, tapping her fingers against the Reese’s cup. The more he talked and thought about it, he slowly realized that he wasn’t thinking about Lydia at all. He was thinking about him and Derek. He slowly stopped tying his skates at the realization that he didn’t just like Derek as a friend. He couldn’t. He was crushing hard on Derek and it wasn’t the same as it had been with Lydia. His chest tightened when he thought of Derek and he could feel those stupid butterflies pick up in his stomach. He wasn’t just attracted to Derek and these feelings weren’t just something that he could get over with a quick round of sex. He didn’t just want to the benefits of being physical with Derek; he wanted the benefits of actually being _with_ him. Lydia looked over at Allison and Scott, slowly starting to nod.

“No, I can see that,” she said, looking over at Stiles, nodding. Stiles’ eyes widened at her words, looking back at her. Oh _shit_ , please say that she didn’t know. If she knew, then Derek would probably know and he was going to actually rip his insides out. This time it wouldn’t be just a playful threat.

“You can?” He asked, trying hard to keep his cool and look like he was completely normal and not trying to think of what he could say to Derek to avoid being mauled to death.

“Yeah,” she said, searching his face and looking a little confused. “They’re cute together,” she said, pursing her lips before smiling over at them. Scott had just gotten his laces tied properly and he and Allison were making their way towards the rink. Stiles had to take a second and make sure that he was still breathing right. He felt himself completely relax and nodded as he looked back over at them.

“Yeah, of course I was talking about them.” He replied, pulling on a smile. God, he was probably in this way too far with Derek but there was no way that he could stop now. All he had to do was make sure that Derek didn’t find out. Lydia popped the last piece of Reese’s cup into her mouth, getting to her feet.

“Come on,” she said and glanced up when she heard a loud thump. Allison was standing by the entrance to the rink and Scott was nowhere to be seen, explaining the thump as Allison helped him up. Lydia rolled her eyes, “Please tell me you at least know how to skate?” She asked, looking back at Stiles. Stiles couldn’t help himself from laughing at the way that his best friend was totally failing on the ice. Well at least his werewolf powers didn’t make him great at everything.

“Oh, don’t worry. I don’t think that anyone can be as bad as him.” He replied as he got on the ice. Lydia shrugged, going out onto the ice after Stiles. She skated out past him, turning to skate backwards a little as she looked around the rink. She bit at her lower lip for a second, trying out a move once she’d gotten a little ways away from Stiles. Thankfully he was sticking off to the sides for some unknown reason, she didn’t care.

Stiles watched Lydia skate, unable to stop his jaw from dropping. It was amazing to see that someone could actually do those sort of moves in real life. Lydia exhaled happily as she ended the spin, skating over to him. “Well,” she began, smiling at him a little. “Come on, Allison’s got her hands full.” she said, leaning over to look behind Stiles at where Scott was trying to gain some semblance of balance on his skates. She rolled her eyes a little, holding her hand out to him. Stiles slowly grinned and took her hand so he could skate with her for a little bit. Even though he now knew that he didn’t want to date her as much as a certain someone, he was still rather fond of her.

Eventually, Lydia asked him to go get her a water and he went off to do so, getting himself a bottle of soda too, taking a swig of it as he leaned against the vending machines. When he heard Lydia’s screams, he quickly took off to the ice rink and tried his best not to fall before he kneeled beside her to try to see what was wrong. He didn’t see anyone around her or anything that could have scared her, rubbing her back as she tried to comfort her. “Hey, hey, it’s okay.” He told her, trying to calm her enough so that she could tell him what she saw. Lydia just kept screaming, clawing her hands at the ice as if she was trying to cover something up, sobbing out ‘no’ repeatedly. Stiles just held her, wincing a little as she recoiled a little from the ice to grip at his arms tightly.

Allison quickly rushed out of the booth when she heard her best friend screaming, at first thinking that they had been attacked. When she didn’t see anyone, she furrowed her eyebrows but went to their side so she could try to help calm her down. “Lydia, hey, look at me.” She said softly, trying to help her snap out of it. Lydia looked up as Allison directed, but that seemed all she was able to do. She couldn’t stop crying, sobs wracking her entire frame.

“Take me home,” she pleaded Allison, even as she kept grip on Stiles’ arms. “Please, I just... I need to go home.” she hiccupped mid-way, squeezing her eyes tight and avoiding the spot on the ground where she’d been clawing. Allison nodded and hugged Lydia so that she could help comfort her a little more. “That’s fine, I’ll take you home.” She said softly, helping Lydia get to her feet.

Stiles quickly skated off of the ice so that he could get Lydia’s things for her. He showed Allison he had her shoes and she nodded in return as she led Lydia to the bench so that she could get out of them. “Just change into your shoes and I’ll take you right home.” She told her softly as she rubbed Lydia’s back and tried to help calm her down just a little more.

“Okay,” Lydia whispered, sitting down as her shoes were placed in front of her, shakily undoing the laces on her skates. She bit down on her lip, closing her eyes as she ended up knotting the first one into a mess.

“You got this, come on, Lydia,” she told herself quietly, wiping the tears away from her eyes with her sleeve before trying again. She got it this time, slipping her feet out of the skates and into her ankle boots, adjusting the tongues before burying her face in her hands for a moment. She drew a slow breath, muttering to Allison, “I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay, Lydia, you don’t have to apologize.” Allison assured her, changing into her own shoes quickly before she helped her best friend to her feet again. “You’ve been through a lot and I understand if you need time to recover from it.” She smiled reassuringly at her to help her feel better. “Let’s get you home so that you can get a lot of rest, alright?” Lydia just nodded, glancing around and seeing that Stiles had her stuff. She took it from him and looped her purse over her arm, hesitating before giving Stiles’ arm a quick pat. 

Scott exhaled sharply through his mouth, sitting down on the bench as he working on getting his shoes on, he’d taken his skates off earlier for fear of falling even off the ice. “Well, that went... well?” He said, looking up at Stiles.

“Yeah, up until the end that went really well.” Stiles said softly, sighing a little as he watched the girls go. He untied his skates and took them off before he set them aside and put his sneakers back on. “There’s something going on with her. If anything, it’s probably because of Peter.”

“Peter?” Scott asked, frowning as he shoved his feet back into his sneakers. “Why, has she said something to you? About... whatever the hell’s going on with her?”

“Well, no, she hasn’t said anything to me. I don’t think she ever will, but I was there when she was attacked. Something’s been going on since then and if she’s not turning into a wolf, who knows what’s happening?” Scott nodded, tying his shoelaces.

“I might try asking Deaton... I mean, he’s not exactly admitted that he knows about werewolves and stuff, but he knows something and we’ve gotta start somewhere right?” He said, getting to his feet.

“Yeah, I’d ask Derek if he knows anything, since he’s pretty knowledgeable when he wants to be, but I think he’s got more than a little on his plate right now to keep him busy.” Stiles mumbled. Scott nodded, shoving his fingers into his jean pockets.

“It’s his own fault, y’know. First Isaac, then Erica...” he said, his voice trailing. “He’s going to bite someone else soon, he needs at least three.” He said and glanced over at Stiles. “He’s gearing up for war, Allison’s family too.” he said, sitting back down and rubbing his hands together. “I don’t know if we can keep this up... just doing things on our own anymore.”

“Well, I mean, the Argents did bring in reinforcements and it’s better to be prepared. And at least he’s not going around biting people who don’t need it and will abuse it. That’s a plus anyways. But I agree with you, working on our own isn’t exactly the best way to go about it. I mean, what if her Grandpa finds out about you?”

“That’s what scares me... I mean, I know what to expect from them for me - I’m a werewolf they’ll just kill me. Allison though, she’s gotta live with them. Day in, day out, trying to keep it all hidden while she tries to help us and stay loyal to her family, it’s just...” Scott said and looked up at Stiles. “I can’t even imagine what they’d do to her, even if she is one of their own.” Stiles nodded at that, understanding why he was concerned.

“Yeah, its one thing to find out your family’s big secret is that you hunt things, and then it’s another to have all of this going on while trying to hide that you secretly have a werewolf boyfriend.” At least Stiles partially understood the difficulty of one of those things. Technically he had a quarter of one of those two things. “It’s hard trying to stay completely loyal to two sides at once.”

“I don’t see how she does it,” Scott said, getting up and gesturing for Stiles to follow him as he started to head towards the exit. “I mean, she balances me, her family, all of this /and/ on top of that she’s still got perfect grades.” Stiles followed, turning the lights off as they left before locking the doors once they excited.

“Yeah, but I think she would get in complete trouble if she didn’t have grades. And I don’t think you would handle not being able to see her because of her being grounded to her room. Probably having her windows barred too. Maybe hunters do that when they ground their kids.” Stiles suggested and Scott scoffed, shaking his head.

“I’d say that’s doubtful, but I honestly wouldn’t put it past them.” he said, and walked with Stiles over to Stiles’ jeep, his own car was parked behind him which he leaned against.

“You never know. I mean, they aren’t against chaining up werewolves, so who knows what they do to people in trouble. Well, we’ll figure things out in the morning. I’ll see if I can find out if there’s anything else that we should expect from Derek or maybe even the Argents.” Stiles replied before he got into his car and headed home.

\------------------------------------------------

The following day, they were able to discover what Derek had in mind when Boyd wasn’t in school that day. By the time that Scott had gotten to the ice rink, Derek and his betas were already there and had already bitten him. The way that Scott had fought them had inspired Boyd and showed him the kind of wolf that he wanted to be. He wanted to be able to fight for people, especially since he now had three new friends that he could fight for.

That evening, Stiles had to stop at the local auto shop so that he could get his starter being fixed. Of course it quickly escalated to him having to need all sorts of things that apparently needed to be done. Somehow what was supposed to be a simple fix turned into something that could run him up to over twelve hundred dollars. He tried to argue with the mechanic about what he needed and didn’t need, but he just quickly gave up and headed back to the waiting room. When he grabbed the door handle, he quickly pulled his hand away in disgust and noticed that the door and his hand were both covered in a clear slime. “Oh, great. Nice to see you’re running a real sanitary place.” He scoffed, wiping it on the sleeve of his red jacket before he headed inside the room. He pulled out his phone to text his father and complain about how the real criminals in town worked in the auto shop, but he couldn’t get his fingers to type.

As he tried harder to control his hands, they began to shake until his phone slipped through his fingers. He looked up through the window so that he could call to the mechanic to help him, but felt his words catch in his throat when he saw something covered in scales with sharp claws climbing down the side of his Jeep. “Hey...Hey!” He tried to call to the mechanic, but his words went unheard and it was too late when the creature swiped at the back of the man’s neck and he fell to the ground. The numbness in Stiles’ body quickly spread until his knees got weak and he fell to the ground. With the miniscule amount of control that he had, he slowly dragged his body so that he could see what was going on, and to get closer to his phone.

His heart pounded in his chest when he saw that his Jeep was starting to slowly lower on the stand and reached for his phone so that he could slowly type in 9-1-1. He listened to the man weakly crying for help, closing his eyes tightly when he heard the loud clang of the stand hitting the floor before it was followed by silence. When he opened his eyes again, the scaled creature was there, staring at him before it hissed and screeched at him before it took off. The phone finally d and the operator at the police station answered. “H-Hey, this is Stiles and I need help. There’s been a murder.” He slowly got out, telling the woman the address before she told him that the police and an ambulance would quickly be there. He closed his eyes tightly again, breathing heavily as he silently prayed that the creature really was gone and he wasn’t about to be killed by whatever the hell that was.

\------------------------------------------------

John Stilinski was at the drive through to a local burger joint when he got the call over his radio. “Possible 187, repeat possible 187. Sheriff, please respond.” John picked up the receiver and radioed back. “Copy that, the address?” he asked, tapping on his steering wheel and wondering if he’d actually be able to make it through the drive through and sneak in his monthly curly fries. He couldn’t eat them too often, but if Stiles was in control he’d never eat them at all.

“47 West Culver. Sir.. Stiles was the one who called it in.” the dispatch said and John sighed, closing his eyes - he definitely wasn’t getting his fries tonight. “Come again?” he asked. “Stiles witnessed it, sir.” dispatch responded and he sighed. “Copy, I’m on my way.” he said, flipping his lights on and driving to the address. When he got there, he parked behind the ambulance, frowning when he saw that Stiles was sitting in the back of it being looked over. He got out, leaving his lights on and shutting the door as he walked over to Stiles. Stiles got the feeling back in his body by the time his father got there, rubbing his hands together to make sure that he wasn’t still numb. He hated that feeling more than anything in the world and was just hoping that he would never have to go through that again for as long as he lived. He slowly opened and closed them before he looked up and saw his father.

“Hey, Dad.” He said softly before looking down at his feet.

“Hey, kid,” John said, sitting down next to Stiles and resting his hands on his lap. “Dispatch told me that you saw what happened?” he asked and glanced up when someone called his name. He glanced up, “Just a second!” he called over, he looked back over at Stiles. “You okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine.” Stiles replied, sighing a little. “I went to the bathroom, and I came back into the room and saw my car falling on him.” He stated, not going to get into the giant mutant ninja lizard man. John nodded, sighing inwardly whenever someone called him over the radio this time. He radioed them back and looked over to Stiles.

“Sorry, I gotta... just um... just sit tight for now. I’ll send someone ‘round to get an official statement, okay?” he said and clapped Stiles’ shoulder. “Is there anything I can do for you right now?” he asked. He couldn’t help his mind going back to the night of Stiles’ mom’s death. How he’d not been able to be there, for her death, for Stiles. Now he had to leave his kid after he just witnessed a death and John couldn’t decide which was worse.

“I told them everything, can I just go home now?” Stiles asked with a groan, really not wanting to be here when there were more pressing matters at hand. He needed to tell Scott and Derek what was now roaming around their town at night. John took a breath, shoving his hands into his coat pockets.

“Look, I’m just trying to make sure you’re okay,” he said and sighed, drawing one of his hands back out to run over his forehead. “If there’s anything at all that you feel like you couldn’t say, you know you can tell it to me, don’t you?”

“I’m okay. Do you think I’m lying to you or something?” Stiles asked with a frown before he looked away from him. “I didn’t see anything, Dad. At all. Can I go now please?”

“No, I don’t think - “ The sheriff started and bit his tongue. He was already tired of arguing. “I’m just worried about you.” He said, and shook his head, wondering why he was even trying. “If you want to go home, and they already have your statement, then yeah. You can go, but not in your Jeep. We’re gonna have to impound it... I’m sorry, I’ll see you at home.” He said, walking off to go speak to one of the deputies that looked like they were going to pop a blood vessel if they didn’t get his attention soon.

“Are you kidding me? Can you at least make sure they wash it?” Stiles called after him before he took out his phone and texted Derek. _‘Hey, can you get me? Kind of an emergency. Pick me up at the gas station near the Armor Tire and Service place, please.’_


	13. Confession

Derek looked up from the Chinese food that he’d allowed Boyd to bring over, his phone going off in his coat which was across the room. He sat his food down, going over to his coat and digging out his phone, pulling up the message, scanning it over. He glanced over at the three teens that were all looking at him, expectantly. He sent Stiles a reply of, _‘On my way.’_

“I’ve gotta go, I’ll be back when I can,” he said, pocketing his phone and grabbing his coat, throwing it on as he left for his car. It didn’t take him long to get to the gas station that Stiles was talking about, considering it was only about ten minutes away from the warehouse. He pulled into a parking space as he arrived, looking around the lot for where Stiles was. He brought out his phone, typing up another message, deciding to send it only if Stiles didn’t show up in the next two minutes. He was surprised he didn’t see Stiles’ jeep anywhere. Stiles headed over not long after and opened the door before he climbed into the passenger’s seat.

“Thanks for getting me.” He said softly, pulling his hood down before he let out a low sigh.

“No problem,” Derek replied, frowning as he felt like something was off, not just because Stiles had called him to come pick him up out of the blue.

“So uh...That thing that Scott saw...I saw it too.” Derek started his Camaro back up and pulled away from the gas station, heading for the warehouse.

“Where?” he asked, glancing over at Stiles.

“At the auto shop. It killed the mechanic with my Jeep. It’s really all traumatizing and I don’t want to go into excessive detail right now.” Stiles replied, moving to rest his head on Derek’s shoulder as he closed his eyes. “It has this sort of temporary paralysis venom in its claws though. Not fun.”

“Are you okay?” Derek asked, continuing towards the warehouse. His phone started ringing before Stiles could answer though and he glanced at it long enough to see it was Boyd before picking it up.

“What’s going on?” Derek said as a hello.

“Funny, I was just about to ask you that,” Boyd replied and Derek sighed through his nose.

“I’m already on my way back, okay? Give me five minutes, I’ll explain when I get there,” he said and ended the call, stuffing his phone in the console of his car.

“I didn’t interrupt your training did I?” He asked curiously, knowing how important it was to him to get his pack prepared for the next full moon.

“No,” Derek sighed, leaning his head against the headrest as he flicked his wipers onto a slightly higher setting, it was starting to rain even harder. “I’ve been training them non-stop it seems, but I’m still not sure they’re going to be ready this full moon.”

“I guess it’s a lot harder now that you have three very different ones now, isn’t it?” He asked, sitting back up so he could look at him better.

“I’ve been trying to get them to work together, to learn how each of them fight individually so they can learn how to fight together - it’s just hard when they can’t always control their shift.” he said and glanced over at Stiles. “Isaac’s predictable, makes the same moves every time expecting different results. Boyd doesn’t join in much with the fighting, but he’s pretty well got that covered. Erica’s just... Erica.” he said, as if it explained what he meant.

“Just keep taking it one step at a time. Eventually, Isaac will have to break his pattern. And well, considering that Erica hit puberty not too long ago, I’m just gonna say that she had a lot of problems to deal with before the bite anyways. Besides, teenagers kind of suck sometimes. I mean, I do, but that’s a whole other story. They’ll eventually start focusing right if they want to survive. Just keep being patient with them.”

“I’m just starting to lose my patience. We not only have the Argents who are just biding their time - and for what I’ve got no fucking idea - but now we’ve got some sort of monster out there killing people, and that’s going to fall on me if I don’t figure out who or what it is.” Derek vented, biting his tongue and sighing. He didn’t go into the Alpha pack – they hadn’t even made a move towards him and he hadn’t smelled their scent anywhere, so as best as he was trying to handle this situation, he was trying to put off that one until he could deal with this one. “This whole thing would be a lot easier if Scott would just work with me on this instead of being such a God damned idiot.”

“Pull over and take a cigarette break.” Stiles replied. “I think that you’re overstressing yourself by non-stop training, and all of the other shit going on, so just take a quick break. That way you can clear your head and some of your stress and it’ll be easier when you get back to the warehouse. I’ll talk to Scott tomorrow and see if I can get him to start changing his mind about all of this.” Derek sighed, knowing Stiles was probably right. He bit at his lower lip and pulled off the road, parking his Camaro in the overhang for an old parking garage that hadn’t been used in months since one of the platforms had been declared ‘unstable.’ He rested his head against the seat and closed his eyes, just listening to the rain hitting the pavement.

“I just can’t keep doing this alone... With Scott I’d have someone to help me, doing this by myself it’s just...” he hesitated on the words, swallowing hard. “I’m not my sister, or my mom. I’m not - I’m not good at any of this. I’m trying to keep up with their training, but with everything else that’s happening on top of it all... it’s a nightmare.”

“Hey, hey, don’t say that. You’re doing the best you can with your circumstances.” Stiles assured him, cupping Derek’s face in his hands so that he could get him to look at him. “You’re trying and that’s all that matters right now okay? You’re doing pretty good so far. I mean, none of your betas have actually killed any innocents. That’s a pretty big success.” He gently bumped their foreheads together, sighing a little. “Just don’t give up on it. Sure, a lot of fucked up stuff is going on right now, but at least you’re still working hard.”

“It’s just not good enough,” Derek muttered, turning a little in his seat and resting his hands against Stiles’ wrists, brushing the insides of them with his thumbs. “I won’t give up, I won’t stop trying - I can’t allow myself to back out on them. I just wish it wasn’t so fucking hard... Laura, my mom, they both made it seem so easy.” He said and sighed looking into Stiles’ eyes. “How are you so confident in me?”

“Maybe because I believe in you.” Stiles pointed out with a shrug, smiling a little at him. “Let’s see, so far you’ve saved me from your psycho uncle, you’ve actually given gifts to underdog teens, and you’ve done a lot more good than I’m gonna get into right now because I doubt you wanna sit here all night.” Derek nodded, pulling away from Stiles enough that he could dig out his cigarettes and offer one out to Stiles as he popped the filter of one into his own mouth. He wanted to kiss Stiles, to pull him close and bury his nose in his scent, to let him just make everything all right if only for that moment. He didn’t because he was still angry, angry at himself the most because when Stiles called he’d come running, and when he wanted an ear to listen to him ranting it was always going to be Stiles first. He bit at the inside of his cheek, lighting his cigarette and leaning away from Stiles, using the excuse of cracking his window as the reason why. He was getting too close, he’d almost used Stiles as an anchor, and in a way he already had. He couldn’t allow himself to do that - not now when everything was so chaotic already. Stiles took the offering, letting the cigarette hang between his lips as he watched Derek.

“I think you should try growing that wolfsbane.” He piped up after a few moments before he took the lighter from him and rolled his window down a bit so he wouldn’t fill Derek’s car with smoke after he lit his up. “I think it’s pretty safe to say that you deserve to get stoned and take your mind off of everything for a little bit. If all else fails, I’ll babysit the pack for you.”

Derek snorted, “That’d be hilarious.” he muttered, resting his arm on the door so he could keep his cigarette near the open window. The smoke automatically was pulled out and he watched it. “I think we need to talk about us.” he said quietly, not looking over at Stiles. He flicked his ashes out the window, slowly closing and opening his eyes. Stiles looked out his window before he tensed up.

“Is that so?” He asked, swallowing slowly before he took a drag and exhaled through his nose before he coughed. Derek nodded, taking a drag before looking over at Stiles.

“I haven’t exactly been keeping my end of the deal we made and I think if we’re going to keep doing this... we ought to cool off a little after tonight.” he said slowly, lowering his gaze more and more as he spoke. Stiles furrowed his eyebrows at that, looking a little confused.

“Oh, okay. If you want to, that’s fine.” He said softly. Maybe he was right, maybe they did need to cool off. “How much cooling off do you think is best?”

“I haven’t figured that out yet,” Derek replied just as softly. “We don’t have to stop entirely, I just...” his voice trailed off. He couldn’t come out and just say that he was starting to care about Stiles because as much as that thought terrified him, the thought of Stiles knowing that terrified him even more. “I need some time to sort things out in my head.” Stiles nodded a little, looking back over at him.

“Alright.” He smiled a little at him, trying to help him feel better. “It’ll be okay, take as much time as you need.”

“Thanks,” Derek murmured, finishing his cigarette in silence, trying to ignore the way Stiles’ heart was beating. “I’m ready to go if you are,” he said, finally breaking the silence and rolling his window back up.

“Yeah, we can go.” He replied, tossing what was left of his cigarette out the window. He rolled up his window, moving his seat back to lean back a little. “Are we still going to the warehouse?” Derek paused, shifting his car into reverse.

“Unless you want me to take you home?” He asked, keeping his foot on the brake as Stiles answer would determine which direction he would back up in.

“No, no, I don’t want to go home right now.” He said quickly, not wanting to be alone just yet. Derek nodded, releasing the brake and the breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding. It only took them a couple minutes to get to the warehouse and he killed the engine as he parked, not waiting for Stiles as he got out and dashed for the shelter of the stairs. Stiles followed him up, putting his hands in his pockets before he remembered and he cocked his head. “Hey, is your pack gonna mind that I’m hanging out here?” He asked curiously.

“This is my home, they can mind it all they want, you’re already here,” he said, gesturing for Stiles to walk in first after he’d opened the door. Isaac and Boyd were still downstairs, apparently having a conversation about something until the door had opened and they watched as Stiles walked in. Isaac and Boyd exchanged glances, Boyd shrugging in response - neither of them knew why Stiles was there.

“Where’s Erica, I want to get some training in before giving you guys a break. You can rest tonight and tomorrow morning.” he said, shutting the door behind Stiles.

“Upstairs, she said something about catching up on homework I think,” Isaac said and Derek nodded.

“Go get her,” he said and Isaac nodded, getting up from his seat next to Boyd and heading upstairs. Stiles looked around for a moment before he went to go sit on the platform so he’d be out of the way. Erica and Isaac came downstairs a minute later, Erica raising her eyebrows when she spotted Stiles before she slowly grinned.

“Wow, we really are seeing a lot of each other lately.”

“What can I say, I like being moral support for werewolves.” Stiles replied, raising his eyebrows for a moment before he realized that was actually completely true. Isaac followed Erica over to Derek, tucking his hands in his pockets just so he’d have something to do with his hands. He’d gotten used to Erica, Boyd, and Derek, but Stiles was still a little new to him. Thankfully he’d gotten over a little of his shyness around Stiles, so he gave him a small, “Hey,” after Stiles had replied to Erica.

“All right, come on, we’ve got work to do,” Derek said and pointed between Isaac and Erica, gesturing for them all to follow him into the training area. The room was less of a training area and more of a garbage dump for whoever had owned the place before, boxes and crates and even an old bus sat in the room. “Same thing as before, first person to actually land a hit wins.” He said and glanced over at Boyd. “You’re going to have to join in too at some point.” he added, and Boyd shrugged as he leaned in the doorway.

“I’m comfy right here for now,” Boyd said and Derek rolled his eyes. He stripped off his jacket and tossed it by the door, popping his neck before positioning himself in the center of the room. Isaac was the first to launch at him, running straight towards him as he swiped at Derek with his claws. Derek caught his arms, ducking to the side and letting Isaac fall where he let out a small groan before trying to get back to his feet.

“Come on, get up,” he said, keeping his eyes on Erica. Stiles slowly smiled as slowly walked over to stand by Boyd and watch their little training game, watching Derek at first before he began to focus on what the others were doing. He liked watching their practices whenever he got the chance because it was cool to see them learn. He also really liked seeing Derek in a tank top because hot damn, that man really did have the body of a God. Erica stood back and watched for a few moments, looking between Isaac and Derek as she tried to think of what move she could do first.

Derek saw Erica coming just as Isaac got up, trying to swipe at him again. Derek caught them both by their throats, shoving them back. Isaac fell, coughing a little as he rubbed his hand against his throat. He got up quickly making another move, same as his first. Derek dispatched him the same way, sighing patiently. “Isaac, your moves are too predictable. You can’t just keep doing the same move repeatedly and expect a different outcome.” Erica backed away from them so that she could watch them again and figure out what she needed to do to really catch Derek off guard. She ran at Derek again, running past him since it would be harder to keep track of the both of them at once if they went at him at different directions. Derek caught Erica around the waist, tossing her on the ground next to Isaac, ending up tossing her onto Isaac who grunted and fell back down under her weight.

“Maybe you could show us some moves, instead of just kicking the crap out of us.” Isaac said, and Derek glared at him.

“You aren’t going to learn battle instincts if I do that. If you’re going to learn this is the only way, now get up, and try again!” He said firmly, “Would _someone_ please try being anything other than predictable?” He asked, huffing a sigh through his mouth. Erica thought of something that would definitely catch Derek off guard and quickly got up before she jumped at him. She moved her legs and arms tightly around him before she kissed him deeply. She lightly bit at his lip before she slid her tongue into his mouth so that she could deepen the kiss. Stiles had been laughing to himself as he watched the pack, until Erica did that. He felt like he had just suddenly rammed into a brick wall and everything suddenly made sense. Did Derek tell him that they needed to take it easy so that he could sleep with Erica instead?

It sure as hell made sense to him, because why would he want Stiles when he could have someone who became really hot and was actually a wolf? He felt a mixture of depression and rage begin to quickly fill him inside and it made him feel sick. He quickly grabbed Derek’s jacket, before he took off running faster than he ever had in his entire life so that he could get out. He needed to get away from this choking feeling that was tightening in his chest and throat. Stiles threw the door to the warehouse open and slammed it behind him as hard as he could before he ran down to Derek’s car and got it so he could lock himself in it.

\-------------------------------------------

Derek was definitely caught off guard by Erica’s tactic, reactively kissing her until shoving her off of him. He looked up as he heard running, somehow already knowing it was Stiles before he even saw him. “Stiles!” He called after him but the door was slamming behind him already and he was dashing down the stairs. Derek rounded on Erica, wolfing out completely in his rage.

“That’s the _last_ time you do that,” he roared at her, Isaac shifting back away from Derek on instinct even though he hadn’t done a thing. Derek was shaking, torn between being livid with Erica and how completely fucked he was with Stiles. After the conversation they’d had before coming here there was no doubt in his mind what it looked like. He took as calming of a breath as he could muster, pulling open the door to the warehouse as he searched for Stiles’ heartbeat amongst the pouring rain. “Stiles!” he called out, dashing down the stairs. He couldn’t give any fucks right now with how this whole scene was looking to Erica and the others. He just wanted Stiles to understand, to know that he hadn’t said that because he wanted Erica. He couldn’t lie to himself anymore, if he lost Stiles... he’d lose his will to even stay in Beacon Hills anymore.

Stiles sat in the front seat of Derek’s car with his knees pulled to his chest. He had his hood pulled up over his head so he could hide his face better, his shoulders shaking as he closed his eyes tightly. He covered his mouth with his hands, trying to fight back the urge to let out a sob. He hated how his eyes had to glaze over, but the pain in his chest was stronger than almost anything he had ever felt in his entire life. He always thought that people exaggerated when they said that they felt like they had their heart shattered in thousands of pieces by the person they had feelings for, but now he was actually experiencing it and the pain of it was almost too much to take at once. He felt like he had his chest stepped on repeatedly and he almost couldn’t breathe. He was so stupid. He had been so stupid for spending the last ten years of his life crushing on a girl he could never get, and he was so stupid for actually crushing on Derek Hale. He let out a sob despite his efforts and tried to curl up in a tighter ball. He was so angry and he was so upset, he just wanted to break things and cry uncontrollably at the same time.

Derek strode over after locating Stiles and forced himself to shift back to normal, squinting his eyes against the rain. He pulled at the handle to his car but it didn’t budge, a quick glance at the locks showed why. “Stiles,” he called over the rain, thumping his fist against the window. “Stiles, please open the door! It’s not what you’re thinking!” He continued, loudly so Stiles could hear him. Stiles refused to look up at Derek just yet, too stubborn to let him see him cry.

“Stiles, please, just open the door!” he shouted, and thumped on the window a few more times. He didn’t want to break it, after all the car had been Laura’s before it was his, but he was that close to desperate that he might. Stiles moved just enough to make him think that he might roll the window down at least, but instead flipped him off. Stiles tried to get his shoulders to stop shaking and wiped his nose with his sleeve before he remembered that he had Derek’s car keys. Maybe this would be a good chance to get some revenge on him. “Stiles, would you just fucking listen to me?” He yelled and Stiles finally at least looked at him, but the glare on his face silenced anything Derek could have come out with.

He watched as Stiles moved over to the drivers’ seat and he moved around the car, following him as best he could as Stiles dug through his coat for something. “Stiles, don’t do this, please. I can explain - I didn’t know Erica was going to do that, I swear, Stiles!” He begged, actually fucking begged, thumping his fist against the window. Stiles soon found what he was looking for and held up Derek’s car keys before he jingled them in his hand for effect.

Derek deadpanned. “Stiles no, don’t, Stiles!” Derek said, frantically thumping on the window though he knew it wasn’t going to do any good. He ignored Derek’s words completely, tossing his jacket to the passenger’s seat before he started the car and turned the radio on high so that he could drown him out. He pulled on the seat belt and took a deep breath before he glanced up at Derek and raised his eyebrows for a moment before he shook his head and drove off. It was just lucky that he was more hurt right now, otherwise he would have made sure that he ran Derek over at least once. He tried to stop himself from crying as he sped off in Derek’s car, trying to get far away from the warehouse as fast as he possibly could.

Derek screamed in anger, bringing his hands up to his hair. He had no other vehicle, and no phone because of course that was in his jacket too. He swore and dashed back up the stairs, rain dripping off of him onto the floor as he stormed over to where Erica and Isaac were still sitting. “One of you, phone, now.” he ordered.

“Here,” Boyd said, offering out his phone to Derek. Derek snatched it from his hands, immediately dialing Stiles’ number. He paced frantically, waiting for Stiles to answer, hoping that he actually would.

“I’m sorry, Derek. I didn’t know.” Erica said softly.

“Save it,” Derek spat out, opening and closing his fist repeatedly until Stiles’ voicemail picked up. He didn’t bother leaving a message, growling in agitation. “What the _hell_ possessed you, huh?” He asked, glaring at Erica.

“Hey, she didn’t know, none of us did,” Isaac said, defending her.

“As if that matters right now?” Derek asked and sighed through his nose. He continued pacing, biting at his lower lip as he tried to think of what to do. He could try Scott, but Scott wasn’t likely to help him at any rate. Eventually Boyd’s phone buzzed in his hand and his eyes devoured the text from Stiles.

_‘You can tell Derek that in the morning he can play scavenger hunt so he can find his car.’_

_‘This is Derek, please, I didn’t expect Erica to do that. I didn’t want it; I need you to understand that. Please, let me at least call and explain.’_ he texted back rapidly, never ceasing in pacing the floor.

“I-I don’t know, it was stupid. You were talking about us being predictable, so I wanted to see what would happen.” She said softly, shrugging as she bit her lip.

_‘Ha. Ha......No thanks. If I wanted to talk to a dick, I’d probably talk to my own. Leave me alone.’_

_‘It’s not like that Stiles, none of this is what it looks like. If you’d just let me explain, please. I can’t handle this.’_ he shot back, pocketing Boyd’s phone.

“Well, now you know,” Derek said and sighed. “I’m gonna go look for him. I think he might be headed home, but I gotta make sure.”

“Do you want one of us to go with you?” Isaac asked and Derek shook his head.

“I think you’ve done enough damage for one night,” he said, and looked over at Boyd. “You’ll get your phone when I get back.” he said, and after going upstairs to get one of his old jackets, he went out into the rain, running for Stiles’ house.

_‘You can’t handle this. YOU can’t handle this? Oh. My. God. Goodnight. Don't TALK to me.’_

Derek checked Stiles’ response, huddling over Boyd’s phone so it didn’t get drenched by the rain too. He wasn’t surprised by Stiles’ response, but he didn’t know what to say to get him to listen to him. He kept running, getting there in about twice the time a car would, but still faster than if he were human. Stiles’ dad must have still been dealing with the murder because he wasn’t there even when Derek arrived. He climbed up to the roof, gently pressing his forehead against the window as he focused his hearing. After about five second he found Stiles’ heartbeat and he knocked on the window lightly, hoping that Stiles would answer. He couldn’t hate Derek anymore than Derek hated himself right now.

Stiles moved the blinds just enough so he could put it a whiteboard against the window. _‘GO FUCK YOURSELF’_ was written on it in big black letters, each word underlined in red.

“Stiles, please - think about this. I ran in the pouring rain to get here, I’ve been freaking the hell out trying to get you to just listen to me and I -” he hesitated on the words. He didn’t want to say them, even after everything that he’d just went through to get there. He forced himself to, suppressing the sick scared feeling in his throat. “I pushed you away earlier because I felt like I was getting too close. Too close to you, and when Erica did that and you left I swear all I wanted to do was tell you the truth.” he said, letting out a broken laugh.

“The truth is, I asked you to not get invested in this, in us and I’ve been the hypocrite and started doing that myself.” he said, blinking a few times as he felt tears welling up. He fought them off, getting to his feet. “I’m sorry, Stiles. I just needed you to hear that.” He said and started carefully making his way towards the end of the roof where he could jump down and start making his way back. He could always call Erica to come and get him, but if Stiles was still going to be upset with him after that... well, he wanted to be alone.

Derek climbed down from the roof, pulling out Boyd’s phone as he felt it vibrate against his leg. _'Your car's in the park.'_ He read the message and glanced up at Stiles’ window, trudging off in the direction of the park. He didn’t bother texting Stiles’ back, still shaky from his confession. He didn’t know how Stiles’ felt about him really - maybe it was just jealousy, maybe he thought that Derek had just been pushing him away for someone else. Derek didn’t know, but if Stiles’ text was any indication – which he had no clue – he’d hopefully not made that confession all for nothing. Maybe Stiles was the one who hadn’t gotten invested. He thought of all the different scenarios as he got to his car, locating the keys and climbing in.

He sent a quick message to Isaac’s phone. _‘On my way back.’_ After it sent he started his car, leaving the radio as it was and driving home. When he got there he ignored the stares and questions that his pack mates directed at him, giving Boyd his phone back before heading upstairs and curling up in bed, still soaking wet, and doing his best to try and hold it together as he forced his way into an uncomfortable sleep.


	14. Paralyzed

When Derek woke up in the morning the only person still there was Isaac. They spoke little to each other aside from what was necessary, though eventually the question of course was asked.

“So what happened when you left?” Isaac asked. Derek glanced up at him and sighed through his nose.

“We didn’t exactly make up, if that’s what you’re asking,” Derek replied and nothing more was said on the matter. Erica and Boyd texted later in the day to say they were staying for the game and they brought up the point - he assumed they heard it from school - that maybe he could join them and at least ask Stiles about what the thing they were supposedly hunting looked like.

“They’re right, we should know what we’re up against,” Isaac said, having read the messages over Derek’s shoulder.

“I don’t want to see him,” Derek said and Isaac snorted.

“Are you kidding me right now? What the hell is all this training you’ve been having us do non-fucking-stop going to be worth if that thing pulls out a new trick we didn’t know about and kills us? You have to talk to Stiles.” Isaac said and kind of withered a little at the look that Derek gave him. “Or, you know, not.” Derek did eventually head over there though, Erica cornering Stiles where she’d found him rummaging through the principal’s office and leading him to the pool area where Derek was waiting.

\-----------------------------------------

In the morning, Stiles had to try to completely numb himself so he could distance himself from the situation with Derek. He didn’t want to think about it more than he had to during school, going to figure out what he was going to do later on when he was at home and wouldn’t get stared at for throwing things if he frustrated himself.

Luckily, he got to distract himself by playing messenger for Allison and Scott. He ran back and forth across the school throughout the day so he could pass on different messages, having to rely on Scott’s inhaler for help when he got to the point where he felt like he was going to pass out from a lack of oxygen in his lungs. Well, at least he was getting his workout just in case he didn’t get the play the game again.

When Allison gave him Gerard’s keys, he quickly rushed to the office so that he could look for the book. ‘Nothing here.’ he had texted her before he had gotten dragged off by Erica, the very last person that he wanted to see right now. Besides Derek of course, but that was for completely different reasons. Of course, Erica had to drag him straight to Derek though.

“Stiles,” Derek said.

“Oh, yay.” He sighed when he saw Derek, rolling his eyes a little. Of course. This was just his luck. “Derek.” He stated back as a greeting. He tapped his foot a little, looking between the two of them impatiently. “What can I do for the two of you today?”

“We need to know what we’re fighting against,” Derek said, trying to keep his voice civil though it was hard with the tone that Stiles was using on him. “This thing you saw at the mechanic’s shop, describe it.” He added, patiently glancing over at Erica - this whole thing was her idea, he was sure of it.

“I saw many things. Like several incidents I want to report to the EPA.” Stiles stated and shrugged his shoulders, sighing as he shifted on his feet. Derek crossed his arms and raised his eyebrows at Stiles.

“Ugh, it was...pretty slick looking. It had dark, patterned skin, like scales? Uh, eyes were yellowish and slitted and it had really sharp teeth. Oh, and it’s got a tail.” He stated. “Can I go now or do you want me to draw you a freaking picture?” A light metallic clink about tore Derek and Erica’s attentions upward. Whatever this thing was that Stiles was describing? It was right fucking there.

“What? You’ve seen it? You guys look like you know exactly what I was talking about.” Erica started kind of freaking out, instinctively taking a step back which seemed to piss it off as it hissed down at them. Stiles’ eyes widened at the sound as he turned to look up at it. Well, shit. He didn’t care that he and Derek were technically fighting; he quickly moved to hide behind him. “Jesus Christ.” He whispered. Derek roared at... whatever the fuck this scaled-shape shifter was, as it landed in front of them and watched as it swiped Erica’s legs out from under her, cracking her whole torso against the wall with the force with which it hit her. Erica must have hit her head or something because she slumped against it and it was just Derek and a defenseless Stiles now.

“Run!” Derek said, turning while the beast seemed interested in Erica’s passed out body, pushing at Stiles’ chest. He whirled back though as soon as he heard something whizz behind the back of his neck. He didn’t even feel the cut that was there. Stiles felt his heart pound in his chest, fearing that it was coming back to finish what he had started in the auto shop. He was about to turn and run when he glanced back and noticed the scratch on the back of his neck.

“Derek, your neck!” He exclaimed. Derek reached up to feel the back of his neck, drawing his hand back in front of his face and seeing the blood mixed with the clear paralytic as he already started to stagger. Stiles he quickly moved behind him and moved his arm around him while pulling Derek’s around his shoulder so he could support him. “Come on.” He said quickly, making him get his balance against him as he tried to run with him to get him out of the pool. “Where is it? Can you see it?” He asked, focusing on trying to get them to the exit.

“No, I can’t see it, I lost it. You’ve gotta call Scott,” he said, stumbling alongside Stiles as they made their way toward the exit. He glanced over at Erica where she was still passed out on the ground. He hoped that since she was incapacitated that would remove her threat status to the monster. Stiles reached into his pocket for his phone before it slipped out of his hand and fell to the ground and slid away from him. He had to let go of Derek so that he could try to get his phone, cursing a little as he tried to move quickly so they could get out. Derek wasn’t prepared for Stiles letting him go and after leaning so heavily in that direction, his only choice was to shout as he fell.

“Stiles, sonuva-” the ‘bitch’ portion of his swear was silenced by the water that immediately enveloped him. Stiles looked between his phone and Derek before he took a deep breath and dove into the water. It didn’t matter how upset he was with Derek, he wasn’t going to let him drown. He moved his arms around Derek and pulled him up, taking a deep breath once they resurfaced. He moved Derek’s arm around his shoulder again so he could support him better. “I’ve got you.” He told him softly. Derek coughed a few times, raggedly catching his breath, glancing over at Stiles as he spoke.

“I see that,” he spat out, moving his head around - that was literally the only part of him he could move right now.

“Can you see it?” He asked, still scanning the room. Stiles looked around, trying to find and sign of the monster.

“No, I don’t see it. Maybe it took off.” He replied, trying his best to keep the two of them floating. He kept his arm around Derek, breathing slowly so that he could keep calm. Derek was about to say something until an inhuman screech echoed through the pool house.

“Apparently not,” he said, blowing air through his mouth and tilting his head back as he tried to keep his face above water. Stiles groaned at that, looking for any way that they could escape, but it would be hard to drag Derek’s body out of a pool and then the actual building itself.

“Well this is absolutely the most awkward reunion ever.” He mumbled.

“It’s not like this was part of the plan, Stiles,” Derek replied, huffing water away from his face. Stiles glanced over at Derek and rolled his eyes a little.

“Well, thanks for trying to save me. Even though it lasted about all of five seconds. I told you that it wasn’t fun being paralyzed.” He mumbled, trying to keep his head above water as he looked around again.

“You’re welcome,” he muttered, scanning the room. “Though you had an easier time of being paralyzed.” He added, glancing over at Stiles.

“If only the rest of that night was easy.” He huffed before he looked around. “And it’s not exactly that hard right now.” He stated before he slowly began swimming towards the ladder so he could try to get them out. “If it’s gone, then we need to get out of here.” Derek nodded, but before they even got within arm’s reach of the ledge he was telling Stiles to stop.

“No, no, no - wait, stop!” He said, the scaled-beast crawling out of the shadows and stalking around the pool. Stiles furrowed his eyebrows as he stopped, watching the creature.

“What the hell is it waiting for?” He mumbled, slowly moving his arm the opposite way to push them back so that they could avoid it just in case it decided to jump in.

“The hell if I know,” Derek replied, not taking his eyes off of it. They watched as it crawled near the edge, tilting its head around as it looked at the water. The odd thing (if it were possible to get more odd than this) was that instead of getting in, the second it’s hand touched the water it hissed, moving back from it and starting to circle again, glaring at them both.

“The hell...” Derek murmured.

“Wait a minute, I don’t think it can swim.” Stiles said softly before he got an idea. His body was beginning to get really tired from holding Derek up and he didn’t know how much longer he could do it. “I don’t think I can do this for much longer.” He said softly, looking for his phone until he finally spotted it. “I need to let you go for a minute, I’m gonna try to call Scott.”

“Don’t you dare let go of me.” Derek said through his teeth, glancing over at him. They did need Scott, but Derek wasn’t keen on drowning just so they could get help that may or may not even make it in time. “There’s gotta be a better way.”

“Couldn’t you just trust me this once?” He asked with a groan. “I’m the one keeping you alive, okay? Have you noticed that?” He pointed out, really not having the time to argue about this. “Listen, if I just let go for a minute, I can swim, get my phone and tell him to come here.”

“Have /you/ noticed that I’m paralyzed from the neck down in eight feet of water?” he said, his voice rising towards the end. “Right now, I don’t trust you and you don’t trust me, but the thing is if we get out of here? I’m the only one of us who can fight that thing off!” He said, spitting water that had splashed up into his mouth out. “You’re not letting me go.” He said a little more calmly.

Stiles glanced back at the phone for a moment before he looked back at Derek and shrugged. “I think I can live with you not trusting me.” He replied, moving Derek’s arm off of his shoulder before letting him go.

“No, Stiles!” Derek shouted, barely getting in half a lungful of air before he was sinking down to the bottom of the pool. Stiles began swimming as fast as he could to get to the wall before he grabbed his phone and unlocked it, splashing water around as he narrowly dodged being attacked by the scaled-beast.

\-----------------------------------------

He squeezed his eyes shut, mentally cursing himself as he listened to Stiles swimming away towards the ledge. He’d pretty well pushed Stiles into doing this, to letting him go. He only prayed that Stiles didn’t hate him enough to leave him down there. As he waited at the bottom, the growing need to open his mouth and take a breath grew until all he wanted was to breathe. His lungs were starting to burn and when his eyes were open it was hard to see past all the pinpoint spots of black. He couldn’t last much longer and just when he was about to give in, take in that breath of water, he felt Stiles tugging him upwards. He couldn’t even understand what Stiles was trying to do when he pressed their mouths together until he felt air passing into his mouth which he did his best to take in. It came into his lungs with a bit of water and when they surfaced he choked it out, gasping and wheezing until he could finally ask, “Please tell me that was fucking worth it.”

Stiles sighed as he held Derek to his chest, biting his lip. “Uh, yeah.” He replied and Derek laughed mirthlessly at Stiles’ lie. But what could he do until the paralytic wore off? If they were trapped in there much longer then they were going to be completely fucking screwed.

“I need to hold onto something or we’re going to go under. I can’t stay up any longer.” Stiles said softly, resting his head to Derek’s for a moment before he began swimming back towards the diving platforms. Derek nodded quickly, understanding. He wasn’t sure how long it had been, but it seemed like at least an hour and a half. Derek was never good at guessing how much time had passed.

“Just be careful,” he said needlessly, watching out for the scaled-beast. At this point he was able to move his toes a little, but that was still useless.

“I’m pretty sure that we are way past the whole being careful stage, considering there is a freaking creepy mutant ninja lizard waiting for us to get out of the pool so it can rip out insides out and probably eat them.” Stiles stated, taking slow breaths. He groaned a little as he overexerted himself, trying to grab the platform before his hand slipped and he went under with Derek for a moment. “I can’t hold on...Too tired.” He mumbled, trying it again but only slipped and went under again.

“Just hang on,” Derek said, his voice muffled a little by the water. The beast screeched again, almost skittering towards them. Derek, sucked in a breath just before they seemed to go down for good. Just as quick it seemed they were being pulled up, landing hard on the concrete next to the pool. Derek panted on his back, coughing up water and trying to move. He was able to, but just barely, enough to crawl over to the platform and try to hoist himself up to his feet. He looked around to see what the Hell was going on and saw Scott squared off with the monster, picking up a dagger like shard of glass from the mirror that he’d just been thrown against. The monster started towards him, but stopped - transfixed by something. The second Derek realized it was looking in the mirror he knew what the scaled-beast was - a Kanima.

Scott had to jump back as the Kanima leap forward, grabbing onto the railing on the top of the wall and parkouring its way to the roof where it broke through one of the ceiling windows. Derek exchanged glances with Scott, letting himself slip off the platform to lie back down. Hopefully it didn’t come straight back, because he was /not/ at all ready for a fight. Stiles was still breathing heavily, after it seemed like the Kanima was definitely gone, moving closer to Derek before he placed his hands on his cheeks and looked him over. “Hey, are you okay?” He asked him, looking over him. He took Derek’s hands and rubbed them softly, keeping his gaze off of his.

“I’m fine - just... Don’t.” Derek mumbled, glancing over at Stiles and pulling his hand away. As much as he liked that Stiles was being concerned about him it hurt too much all at the same time. Scott got to his feet, shifting back after a minute.

“What the hell is going on?” He asked and Derek glared up at him.

“I’ll tell you what I know, just go check on Erica first,” Derek said, wincing as he forced himself up off the floor. He wavered, bracing himself on Stiles’ shoulder just long enough to take a step towards the wall and lean his back against it. His throat felt raw and his whole body still felt numb, tingling as if every inch of him had fallen asleep and was waking up.

“Fine, I’ll check on her,” Scott said, giving Stiles a seriously confused look before locating where Erica was still lying down from where she’d been tossed earlier.

 

Stiles followed Scott, putting his hands in the wet pockets of his coat as he looked down at Erica. “She’s okay, we should get out of here.” He spoke up after a few moments. “Did you find the bestiary?” He asked curiously, wanting to know if all of this was for anything or if they needed to come up with another plan.

“Yeah, it was on the flash drive on Gerard’s keys,” Scott said, standing up from where Erica was lying. She seemed to be okay, just unconscious still. “Are you gonna tell me what that just was or...?” He asked, looking past Stiles at Derek who was watching them until Scott caught his eyes.

“No, it’s nothing, don’t worry.” Stiles replied, not even glancing back at Derek. He really need to think about things when he got home and decide if he wanted to either talk to Derek or actually run him over with his car. Erica soon stirred, groaning and rubbing her head.

“What happened?” She asked, before furrowing her eyebrows when she saw Stiles and Scott standing above her. “Where’s Derek?” She looked around for him before spotting him and getting to her feet to go to him. “Did it do anything to you?” She asked him.

“I’m fine,” he told her glaring over at Stiles and Scott. “Just give me a minute to get some more control back.” Erica nodded and followed Derek’s gaze to the two for a moment before she leaned against the wall and watched Derek. He was looking down at his legs now, testing them out by slowly putting his weight on his legs completely. He could stand with a little difficulty, walking would take a bit longer.

 

“Yeah, okay.” Scott said, knowing that Stiles was lying - or at the very least holding back. “Let’s just go take a look at what’s on this thing and see if we can’t find what we’re up against.” Scott said, digging the keys from his pocket and holding them out to Stiles.

“I promise, Scott, if it was important, I would tell you.” Stiles told him, taking the keys before he thought about it. “I brought my laptop with me in your car so we can use that and find out now.” He replied as he motioned him to follow.

“All right, I’m not gonna push it.” Scott said, holding his hands up defensively before following Stiles out to his car. Once they were out there he unlocked the doors, opening the door to the back and grabbing Stiles’ backpack before holding it out to him.

Stiles got his laptop up and running quickly before he plugged the USB in and brought up the Bestiary. When he got into it, he groaned as they flipped through the pages on the screen. “Oh, come on. Is that even a language?” He asked, motioning to the total gibberish.

“It’s never simple, why can’t it ever be simple?” Scott complained, running his hands over his hair. “How the hell are we supposed to figure out what this thing is?” He asked, sighing as he thought of something. “Maybe Allison knows what language it is...” He muttered.

“Considering how old her grandfather is, it’s no wonder that he keeps everything in gibberish that no one under the age of fifty can probably understand.” He stated with a groan. All of that time in the pool for nearly nothing.

“At least it’s a start?” Scott said trying to be optimistic.

“Yeah, but now we have to figure out what language this is, and then we have to figure out how in the hell we translate it.” He mumbled as he leaned against Scott’s car.

“If we figure out what language it is the only thing we have to do then is find someone who can translate it. I mean, not that any of this is going to be easy, but we have a plan,” he said. “After all this there’s got to be something in there on what that thing was.” Scott said.

“Well, yeah, hopefully we can get all of this done before it attacks anyone else.” He murmured, closing the laptop. “I’ll try looking around tonight to see if I can figure out what language it is.” He shrugged a little.

“It’s called a Kanima,” Derek said as he and Erica walked up. Stiles scoffed at Derek’s words, crossing his arms over his chest.

“So, basically you knew what it was the entire time?” Well wasn’t that just great? Well, at least they now knew what the freaky thing was called. Maybe now it would be a little easier to actually research it.

“Not until Scott was fighting it and it got confused by its own reflection.” Derek said firmly, crossing his arms and looking at Stiles.

“Okay, so what does that mean - what is it aside from just the name?” Scott asked.

“It’s a shape shifter, like us, but different. I don’t know much about it, just what I’ve heard in rumors. But I know that whoever it is? They don’t know it’s going on.” Derek continued.

“So like... It doesn’t know who or what it is?” Scott asked, Derek nodded. Well that was fan-freaking-tastic. So basically they had to deal with a shape shifter that was going through a Mulan crisis about not knowing who it even was inside.

“Well, is there anything else you know about it?” He asked, wondering if Derek had any other useful information in his nearly infinite mental encyclopedia of monster knowledge. Derek shook his head.

“Just rumors. What I do know is that when I find it - I’m going to kill it.” He said and turned to Erica before taking off with her towards his car. Stiles groaned a little, wishing that they had gotten something really worth it after all of the time spent in the pool and the murder that happened in front of him the night before. Well, at least now they knew what the freaking thing was.

\-----------------------------------------

When Stiles got home, he started trying to research all that he could, but the only thing that came up was a South American Were-jaguar that only hunted murderers, and based on his personal experience, that was definitely not the kind of Kanima they were looking for. At least they had something useful to do when they found out that Derek had tried giving Jackson the venom and that he was planning something for Lydia next.

The main thing that they needed to worry about was that Isaac and Erica were apparently after her and were planning to do something about it during chemistry. Stiles told himself and Scott that there was no way it could be Lydia, since she wasn’t completely evil most of the time. Of course, right after he mentioned to Scott that she was fine, she had completely covered the chalkboard in the words ‘someone help me’ written backwards. So maybe he spoke just a little too soon, but he knew that Lydia wasn’t a Kanima. She wasn’t capable of murdering people, even if the Kanima didn’t quite know who it was.

When the bell rang, he followed Scott to chemistry, sighing a little. “So what are we going to do? Derek’s probably going to kill her the moment he sees her.” He stated, rolling his eyes a little. It was just one thing after the other with that damn alpha.

Scott shook his head at Stiles’ comment. “I get that you’re a little biased right now for some reason, which would be awesome if you would talk to me about - not that I’m complaining - but Derek’s not just going to straight up kill her. Not without proof.” Scott said as they walked into Chemistry together.

“All you need to know is that he’s basically a nut case right now.” Stiles replied, still not sure if he should talk to Scott about the fact that he’d been sleeping with Derek. “If he suspects it’s Lydia, I’m pretty sure he’s gonna stop at nothing. So he’s going to test her like he did with Jackson, but the question is when and where.”

Scott bit at his lip, looking around the classroom for Lydia. He found her, but he also saw Isaac and Erica. “I think they’re going to right now.” He said quietly, not taking his eyes off of them. Stiles looked between the two betas and Lydia before quickly going over to her table and pulling up an extra seat so he could sit on the side of the table. If they were going to have to be bodyguards for the day, then so be it. He wasn’t going to let any of them hurt Lydia. If she really was the Kanima, which he really doubted, they’d find a way to fix her.

Erica headed over to the table before the spots were taken and slowly smirked as she stepped back and took a seat at the table right behind Lydia. It was no big deal if Scott and Stiles were going to try to protect her, because she knew they couldn’t do it forever. Scott took up the seat on the other side of Lydia, glancing back at Isaac and Erica. Isaac flashed him a toothy grin, before all of their attentions were drawn to their teacher talking.

“Einstein once said,” Harris began as he walked up the isles towards his desk. “Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity, and I’m not sure about the universe.” He glanced down at Isaac as he walked past. “I, myself, have encountered infinite stupidity.” He said, patting his hand on Stiles’ shoulder a few times before going up to the front of the class, leaning his lower back against his desk. Scott gave Stiles a sympathetic look. Lydia was trying not to laugh, pressing her lips together as she side-eyed Harris. Stiles took a deep breath when Harris talked about him, grinding his teeth a little together.

He didn’t think it was possible to dislike someone as much as he disliked Harris, but he proved that it was even more possible every single day of class. Especially since he still felt the need to punish Stiles for being interrogated from the Sheriff. He didn’t normally wish for bad things to happen to people, but he sometimes wished that Harris would just fall off the surface of the earth. And by sometimes, that meant once a class period. He looked around when he saw all the hands raised, shaking his head a little. If only everyone knew what happened to her every full moon.

“So... to combat the plague of ignorance in my class, you’re going to combine efforts through a round of group experiments.” Harris paused to let that sink in. “Let’s see if two heads are _indeed_ better, than one.” He rested his hands on his hips as he thought for a second. “Or in Mr. Stilinski’s case, less than one. Now, Erica - take the first station, start with...” his voice trailed as over half the classroom raised their hands. He blinked a few times and shook his head.

“I didn’t ask for volunteers; put your hormonal little hands down.” He said with restrained irritation. “Start with Mr. McCall,” he finished, and then started pairing everyone up at the different lab stations. Stiles sighed in relief when he was paired with this girl named Tara, working with her in silence until Harris rung the bell for them to make the first partner switch. Isaac took up the seat beside him, and Stiles rolled his eyes a little before he unscrewed the top off of one of the bottles.

“If you harm one hair on her head, I’m going to turn your little werewolf ass into a fur coat and give it to her on her birthday. Got it?” He glanced over at him, making sure he was listening to his little threat. He glanced over at Scott’s table with Erica and sighed inwardly. Isaac laughed, tapping his fingers on the table.

“Really? Cause uh... I’ve never actually been to one of her big invite-only birthday parties.” he said, glancing up at the chalkboard. “Did ask her out once though...” he added.

“Oh God, is this going to be the beginning to one of your heartfelt stories? I’m going to have to pass on this one.” He stated, really frustrated that not only did he have to deal with his fight with Derek, but he also now had to deal with his little betas preparing for a possible killing spree.

“Would you rather me talk about this or Derek?” Isaac asked, raising his eyebrows over at Stiles. “It was first day of freshman year,” he said, continuing on with his story.

Stiles groaned and resisted the urge to just start bashing his head on the table. “Let me guess, you thought that everything was going to be different but she still rejected you.” He stated, scowling at the ingredients. “Also I’m pretty sure that I’d rather jump into a volcano instead of even think about talking about Derek.”

“She laughed at me actually,” Isaac replied, watching Stiles work on putting the ingredients into the beaker.

“Sounds like something she’d do.” Stiles replied before rolling his eyes for the umpteenth time.

Isaac glanced over to the windows, spying Derek who was staring at him with a hard glare. Isaac lowered his voice and leaned a little closer to Stiles as the other tried to scoot away from him. “Look, I don’t know what the hell went on between you two. All I know is that Derek doesn’t talk about it.” He said and sighed through his nose. “What I also know - is that you and him need to talk this shit out.” He muttered. Stiles felt his heart hurt a little at the thought of how he and Derek were just a few days before and just shook his head that time. Isaac leaned over and put his hand on Stiles’ arm. “Don’t give me that. Derek isn’t going to say anything so I have to.” he said.

“I won’t ‘give you that’ if you find a better outlet for your rage. Maybe try English class. Unrequited love is a bitch. Just like your alpha.” Stiles winked at him, trying to push away all thoughts he had about Derek for now. “Maybe if you don’t kill my friend, it’ll happen.”

“Switch, you have five more minutes before time’s up.” Harris said, resting his arms on his desk. Isaac let go of Stiles’ arm, getting up from his seat and turning to look at Scott who had just used up his last partner switch with Lydia. Scott glared at him, reluctantly getting up from the desk.

“Isaac - don’t,” Scott mouthed to him. Isaac just shrugged, glancing down at Stiles before taking the seat next to Lydia and pushing Scott out of the way. Lydia glanced between the three of them, making a confused face before she went back to work. Stiles sighed a little, shaking his head as Scott took the seat next to him.

“What are we going to do if she gets paralyzed? How are we going to explain that?” He whispered to Scott.

“If she reacts we just have to come up with a way to protect her - there was a cure for me, even if Derek kind of messed it up. There’s gotta be a cure for this too,” Scott said quietly, glancing back at Isaac and Lydia.

“And if she doesn’t react?” He asked, not even really paying attention as he continued to put different ingredients into the beaker. “Where should we take her to keep her safe from them?”

“My house, I guess,” Scott said, tapping his pencil in his hands. “Say study group, to get her over there. You, me, Allison, maybe even get Jackson to come too if we can.” Jumping a little when the bell rang again.

“Time,” Harris said, lacing his fingers together. “Now, if you’ve catalyzed the ingredients properly what you should have is a crystal formation in the bottom of your beakers. And here’s the part that I know you’ll all enjoy...” he said, pausing as he glanced around the room. “You can eat it.” Scott and Stiles’ both looked over at Lydia’s table, watching as Isaac grabbed a pair of tongs from the table, removing a bit of the crystal from his and Lydia’s beaker.

“Here, I’m not hungry,” he said, offering out the bit of crystal to Lydia. Lydia tilted her head at him, looking over at the crystal before she took it from the tongs.

“Lydia wait!” Scott said loudly, getting up from the table. Stiles was about to yell for her to stop too, but Scott beat him to it. The class stared at Scott, Harris too and he was forced to sit back down. “Damn it...” he muttered. Lydia’s hand had frozen with the crystal in her hand. She exhaled sharply through her nose.

“Weirdo,” she muttered to Isaac, earning a small laugh. She took the crystal from the tongs, sniffing it a little before taking a bite.

“You sure you don’t want any?” She asked, offering the piece back. Isaac shook his head.

“I’m sure, it’s all yours Lydia.” he said, looking past her out the window where Derek was climbing back into his car. Stiles felt his stomach fall when she had no reaction, biting his lip. Well now they officially had to prepare for a possibly massive battle. He considered running out of the school and finding Derek, hoping that he would listen to him, but he knew that he needed to get Lydia somewhere safe before then.

\-----------------------------------------

Later that evening, while Stiles, Allison, and Jackson tried to disract Lydia away from the werewolves and keep her safe at the same time, Derek and his pack were already outside waiting for their chance. 

Derek waited with Erica and Isaac while Boyd had walked around the house, checking it out. “They got it locked up tight, if we want in we’re gonna have to break in.” Boyd told him and he nodded, watching the windows by the doors where every few minutes Allison and Stiles would look out at them. 

“Don’t do anything for now. Isaac, Erica - when I say I want you to go in. I don’t care what you have to do to get to her, killing Lydia is our top priority.” Derek said.

“What about Stiles?” Isaac asked.

“You know what you have to do.” Derek said firmly as he looked over at Isaac. “Everyone else is just in the way.”

\-----------------------------------------

Erica glanced back at Derek, raising her eyebrows. She didn’t mind fighting the others to get to Lydia, but she figured that Derek would be against any harm coming to Stiles, despite the situation. “Are you sure you want to risk Stiles getting hurt?”

“Stiles has made it clear he wants nothing to do with me,” Derek said, glaring back at the house. “He’s chosen his side and if you’re not happy with what we have to do to make sure that no one else gets killed, maybe you should ask yourself if you’re going to stick around either.”

“Isaac, your move. Since Erica’s so keen on not listening, you can go in first.” Derek said and Isaac nodded, glancing over at Erica before making his way to the back of the house. From there he broke the handle of the back door off, easing it open quietly before sneaking up behind Allison. He’d knock them out before opening the door, letting Derek know that they could come in and help then.

Erica shifted a little at Derek’s words, looking between the teenage boy in the window and her Alpha. “Isaac and I were listening to his heart. I’m guessing you didn’t. Every time Isaac said your name, it skipped. And it wasn’t fear I smelled from him. He was pissed and annoyed, but that wasn’t all I smelled.” She told him softly before she headed inside.

She’s right you know, you two are both infatuated with each other, we can smell it. You guys just need to kiss and make up and get this shit cleared,” Boyd added, listening with Derek to the sounds of fighting coming from the house. 

“It’s not that simple, that’s what you guys aren’t getting.” Derek said. “Besides, if we succeed tonight we’ll have killed one of his friends. I think that will permanently ruin whatever chance you three seem to think I have with getting him back.”

\-----------------------------------------

Isaac didn’t waste time - trying to fight Scott as hard as he could. Scott, even being an omega, was still stronger than him, more experienced and after managing to get clocked in the head with another lamp, Scott came out victorious, Isaac slumping onto the floor. Scott went upstairs to find Allison, sighing in relief when he saw that she was okay. “Come on, let’s bring out the welcome wagon,” he said with a grin, knocking the arrow out of Erica’s hand with his shoe and draping her over his shoulder fireman style.

He led the way downstairs and pulled open the front door, tossing out Erica and then Isaac, striding out onto the porch to face Derek who was smirking as he did a slow clap.

“Nice, bravo, brilliant,” Derek said sarcastically. “Got you own little pack now don’t you Scott?” he asked, shoving his hands into the pocket of his coat. “I think that’s why you keep refusing me, Scott. They may be human, but you’ve already got a pack of your own. But just one problem - you’re not going to win against me.”

Stiles was pretty proud that they had managed to take down two betas, considering that two out of three of them were human. Of course, Stiles mostly just made a mess out of the living room, but Isaac wasn’t going to hurt him anyways so he still considered it a victory. “We sure beat your pack’s asses for being humans.” He had mumbled under his breath to Derek’s sarcastic remark.

“I don’t have to defeat you, I just have to hold you off until the cops get here,” Scott replied, the sirens already growing closer. Derek looked off in the direction the sirens were coming from until a hiss on the roof drew his gaze. Scott looked up as he heard it too, stepping down from the porch and backing away to look at the roof as the Kanima screeched at them all before darting off into the night.

Derek looked down at Erica and Isaac at his feet before lifting his gaze back up to where the Kanima had disappeared. “Get them out of here.” he said. Boyd looked over at him, wondering if he should when more footsteps exited Scott’s house.

Lydia had told the 911 dispatcher that the house was quiet and she was going to go find her friends, which of course the lady told her not to, earning a dial tone. The further she made it towards the exit the more she was freaking out, the whole place was trashed and there were what looked to be claw marks everywhere. When she got outside she was confronted with an even more confusing sight of all of her friends - and a few people she didn’t know - standing on the lawn and staring up at the roof before looking over at her.

“Okay, I’m done messing around. Someone had better tell me what the hell is going on in the next five seconds, or I’m going to scream.” she said, pressing her lips tightly together as she looked expectantly between all of them. “Well?” she asked, crossing her arms. Stiles had been about to run in to make sure that Lydia wasn’t gone but didn’t have the chance to when she came out. In the shock of it, he realized that he needed to also figure out just what in the world made her immune to Jackson’s poison.

Scott and Derek exchanged looks. “Jackson...” Scott said, following Derek’s gaze back up to the roof.

“Jackson,” Derek confirmed, frowning.

Allison sighed in relief and hugged her best friend tightly. “I’ll explain everything, but now isn’t a good time. We can talk later.” She told her quickly before she took her hand. “We need to get out of here as fast as we can.” She wasn’t going to wait around for the cops to come, especially since it would mean that her father would find out about her secret with Scott a hell of a lot sooner than she wanted.

“Fine, but you’re telling me on the way. I’m sick of being told to wait,” Lydia huffed, flashing a glare over at Stiles before she followed after Allison. Stiles swallowed hard at the glare Lydia sent his way, still feeling really bad about that. He was going to so have to make it up to her as soon as he got the chance.

“So what now?” Boyd asked and Derek glanced over at him.

“Take them back to the warehouse, stay there until I get back.” Derek said and starting off towards the trees.

“Where are you going?” Scott called after him.

“Where the fuck do you think?” Derek called back over his shoulder, not stopping. Boyd exhaled between his lips, picking Erica and Isaac up, holding them under each arm. Stiles almost laughed at Derek’s sass, kind of missing it. Then he quickly remembered he was supposed to be bugged with him and made his smile fade away.

“Not that you guys would listen to me, but if you want to try and save Jackson you should go after him.” Boyd mumbled. Scott nodded, muttering a quiet thanks to him as he watched him walk away.


	15. Armani

Derek had tracked Jackson down to the more clubby area of Beacon Hills - not even really having time to question why the hell it was going there of all places. The only time the Kanima had been called out so far was to kill people - except for the time where he and Stiles had been trapped in the pool by it. He chased after Jackson, only a few feet behind, rounding a corner and jumping the fence that barred the path. He shifted as he landed continuing after it.

\----------------------------------------------------

Back at Scott’s house, Scott was trying to explain what had happened to Stiles’ dad - it wasn’t really going so well.

“Okay, tell me one more time and then I guess I’ll let you two go.” John said, rubbing at his forehead. Scott sighed through his nose and started again.

“We were all upstairs studying when we heard someone break in through the back door. We didn’t come down to see what was going on, we just left the door shut.” Scott started.

“And how did it get broken open again?” he asked and Scott went into that explanation too and finally John stopped him.

“Alright, you two try not to get into any more trouble okay? Scott, you and your mom are welcome to stay with us tonight if you want when she gets off work.” He said, scratching through his hair as he already started walking off.

“Thanks Mr. Stilinski!” Scott said and looked over at Stiles. “We should go find Jackson, preferably before Derek does.” he said.

“Thanks, Dad. I’ll make sure Scott has everything and head over.” Stiles called after his dad before he looked back at Scott. “Yeah, that would probably be best. Thankfully I can drive faster than he can run.” He added, taking his car keys out before he motioned Scott to follow him out to his car.

Scott laughed, “Yeah, guess it’s scenting time.” he said, tapping the side of his nose as he followed Stiles out to his car.

“Oh my God, I will not lock you out of my car if you promise to never say that again.” Stiles stated with a laugh as he got into the driver’s seat and started it up.

Scott laughed, shaking his head as he got into the passenger seat. He was glad to see Stiles still had his sense of humor after all of that. 

Once Scott was in, Stiles started driving, following Scott’s directions as best as he could. “Do you think you have a lock on Derek?”

Scott nodded at Stiles’ question, “Yeah, I definitely got it.” He said, rolling his window down. He didn’t say the reason why was because Stiles had started to smell like Derek, even before the weirdness at the pool. He didn’t ask why either, figuring that whatever it was wasn’t his business, or at the very least that Stiles would tell him whenever he was ready to.

 

“Alright, at least things are starting to look up tonight! Where to, wolf boy?” Stiles asked with a grin, happy that Derek was at least pretty able to track down.

“Straight for now,” he said, scooting around in the passenger seat so he could more comfortably hang his head out the open window. “Make a right two streets up.”

“Sounds good.” He replied, counting the streets before making a right turn. “Also, I’m just curious, is it more comfortable if you stick your tongue out when you do that?” He asked, glancing over at him for a moment.

“Funny,” Scott shot back, rolling his eyes. Eventually they reached the club district, the smell getting stronger the closer they got. “Down there, that alley,” Scott said, pointing at an alley to their left that they’d just passed. It was closed off by a fence which Scott would have to hop over, he knew already.

Stiles turned down the alley and went as far as he could, his Jeep coming to a screeching halt before he could run over some spikes that were just a few feet in front of where his tires stopped. “What do we do now?” He asked, looking away from the fence and to Scott.

Scott scrambled out of the jeep the second Stiles’ started breaking, the sounds of gunshots reaching his ears as he ran for the fence. He jumped at it, hopping over and landing on his feet on the other side, bolting for where the sound was coming from. As he got there, Derek was nowhere in sight, but the Kanima was staring up at Gerard’s grandfather, not attacking. He tackled it away from him, confused as hell as to why it hadn’t attacked Gerard, and even more as to why Gerard hadn’t moved away. The Kanima screeched as it crawled away.

Scott gave a pausing look at Gerard, who just glared at him, glancing over at Chris who was sitting on the ground before running after it. He lost it between the buildings, skidding to a stop as he leaned against the side of a building which had dubstep music pounding away inside. He waited for a minute to catch his breath.

Stiles finally caught up to Scott, walking up behind him as he went along the fence. “Hey, did you see where he went?” He asked, looking around again to try and figure out just where exactly they were. He hadn’t really been to this part of Beacon Hills and was rather curious about it.

Scott jumped, sighing out in relief when he saw it was just Stiles. “No, he came down that alley and then I don’t know where he went.” he said, continuing to look around the corner at the line of people trying to get into the club.

“What, you couldn’t catch his scent? Do you have any idea of where exactly he’s going?” He asked curiously.

“I don’t think he has a scent,” Scott said, shaking his head. “The whole way here the only scent I recognized was Derek. Not a single whiff of Jackson, and don’t even start on how bad that sounded,” Scott said, holding up a defensive hand as he turned to look back at the line. “I do know that I’m pretty sure he’s going to kill someone.” he muttered.

“Oh, really? I guess that explains the claws, the fangs, and the ooze dripping from his fangs. It’s all coming together perfectly now, so that you for clarifying that for me.” Stiles stated sarcastically.

“You’re not helping,” Scott said, sniffing the air. He smelled something familiar, but he couldn’t place it amongst all the other smells. Not quite yet, it was someone he knew though, he knew that.

“I’m sorry, but I’m one hundred and forty-seven pounds of pale skin and fragile bones! I don’t have fangs, claws, or super strength at my disposal like you! Sarcasm is my only defense.” He pointed out.

“Look, just help me find it,” Scott said, moving his eyes back to the line. It was irritating him - the scent, and that Stiles wasn’t able to be more of a help. He also wondered where Derek went, but considering he’d seen Gerard and Allison’s dad back when he’d confronted the Kanima, he was pretty sure Derek had just fled.

Which Derek hadn’t, watching Stiles and Scott from a distance. He knew that the Kanima had to be around here somewhere, considering Scott had gone after it. He just needed to wait. “Technically ‘It’ isn’t even an it. It’s Jackson.” Stiles pointed out, raising his eyebrows a little as he put his hands in the pockets of his jacket.

“I know... yeah, I know,” Scott said, still not happy to admit it. “It’s just hard to take in. I mean, he passed the test - right? That’s why Derek went after Lydia, because she didn’t.”

“Okay, but that leads to another good question. How _did_ Jackson pass Derek’s test? Unless...Maybe it’s an either-or thing.” Stiles mumbled before he paused when he realized why he passed. “Derek said that a snake can’t be poisoned by its own venom, right? So when is the Kanima not a Kanima?”

Scott frowned, slowly looking over at Stiles. “When it’s Jackson...” he said, following Stiles’ line of thought. He looked back over at the line. “We need to find him. Soon,” he said.

Stiles looked around, taking a few steps back before he stopped moving. “Uh, dude.” He said to get Scott’s attention. “I found him. See that?” He motioned up to one of the windows, seeing the Kanima’s tail waving around as it headed inside the building.

Scott looked over at Stiles, stepping away from the wall to look where Stiles was pointing. He’d just climbed into the window of the club. “He’s inside...” he sighed out, cursing under his breath. Then the smell that had been hitting his nose for the past five minutes finally clicked in his brain and he knew where it had come from. “And I think I know who he’s after.” he said, looking at the line where Danny was front and center, getting his ID checked.

“How do you know that? Do you smell something?” He asked, curiously as he furrowed his eyebrows. He didn’t know how Scott could have found Jackson’s next victim yet, but if they had a lead then he was going to do what he could to help stop Jackson before he killed anyone else.

“Yeah,” Scott said, pointing at Danny who had just gotten his ID back. “Armani.” he said and lightly smacked the back of his hand at Stiles’ chest. “Come on, we gotta find a way in. A back door, anything.” He said leading Stiles around the building, searching for a door.

Stiles nodded as he watched Danny head inside before he turned and followed Scott. He found a door and tried to tug it open, only for it to be locked. “Great. Well, maybe there’s a window or something that we can climb through...”

Scott ignored him, twisting the handle under his hand until it snapped, opening the door and holding out the broken piece to Stiles. “Come on,” he said, smirking.

Stiles took the handle, furrowing his eyebrows. “Or, you know, we just use a handle that we can rip off with extreme supernatural strength. How did I not think of that?” He asked before he followed him, dropping the handle on the ground.

When they got to the main floor from the back way, Stiles let his eyes adjust to the little laser light show and disco ball combo lighting that the club had on the dance floor. He looked around for any sign of Danny, quickly noticing just how many shirtless guys there were. Or just guys in general.

“Hey cutie.” He looked over his shoulder, seeing a trio of well dressed drag queens looking him over. That was the number one indication to him of where exactly they were. “You look lost, little rabbit. Maybe I can get you a drink?” Stiles opened his mouth to say something to Scott as the one who went by the name of Kiki moved in closer, but quickly became distracted when he felt the side of his face and neck being stroked. He felt very conflicted about what he should do in this situation. Especially since Kiki had just called him a rabbit.

“Dude, everyone in here is a dude!” Scott said loudly after they’d walked in. “I think we’re in a gay club!” He called again, looking to his left and not seeing Stiles until he noticed that some very manly ladies were fawning over him. He choked back a laugh, grinning over at Stiles as he started to laugh anyway.

“Wow, man, nothing really gets past those keen werewolf senses, huh?” Stiles asked sarcastically, trying to ignore the fact that his ear was now being lovingly massaged. Okay, that one actually felt good. Why the hell he had to learn all these things he liked about his body from other people was beyond him, but he wasn’t entirely complaining. “Well, uh, it was nice to meet you all, but I have to go with him, we’re looking for someone. But uh, next time I’ll take you up on that drink.” He said to the group as he turned to look up at Kiki.

“One of those nights, huh?” She asked him with a wink.

“One of what nights?” Stiles asked, raising his eyebrows.

“One of those nights where you and your partner,” Kiki paused, nodding to Scott. “Are feeling adventurous and want to spice things up with adding another person in the bedroom. It happens to twinks all the time, hon, don’t worry.” Stiles sputtered, feeling like he was about ready to go crawl under a rock and die now.

“Well, uh, yeah. Sure. That’s exactly it. Uh, yeah.” He replied, trying to figure out how in the hell he was supposed to react to that exactly as his jacket sleeve was rolled up and Kiki and the others wrote their numbers on his arm. Once Kiki had given him a big kiss on the temple and told him to call for anything, Stiles began walking quickly away from the group.

“If you ever mention that to anyone, I am going to kill you in your sleep.” He stated, pointing to Scott.

Scott couldn’t stop laughing, shaking his head as he wrapped his arm around Stiles’ neck. “Let’s just find Danny,” he said finally, waving back at the group as they wiggled their fingers at him. “I think he went this way.” he said, still grinning as he let Stiles go, motioning for him to follow as they walked over to the bar. Danny wasn’t there, but the bartender was and he smiled over at the two of them.

“Haven’t seen you two here before.” he said, resting his hands on the bar, eyeing Stiles a little. “What can I get you boys?” he asked.

“I’m so going to kill you.” Stiles groaned a little, shaking his head as he leaned against the bar. “Well at least they’re friendly.” He looked back over at the bartender and smiled widely at him. “Two beers please.” He ordered for them, thinking that he could easily pass as a legal adult.

The bartender raised his eyebrows, not quite sure of their ages the second Stiles spoke. “IDs?” He asked. Scott worked his wallet out of his back pocket, pulling out his ID and setting it on the bar. Stiles nodded and took his wallet out so he could get his fake ID out and set it down besides Scott’s. If only he had gone with getting them more legitimate looking ones.

The bartender picked them up, looking them over and sighing through his nose when he noticed that they weren’t exactly legal. They’d made it through the front door though - to his knowledge, and he wasn’t about to make a mess of trying to get them tossed out. “How about two cokes?” he asked, smirking at them and sliding their IDs back in front of them. Scott was busy eying the crowd for Danny so he didn’t even really hear what the bartender had said, reflexively replying, “Yeah, sounds good!” over his shoulder.

“Yeah, two rum and cokes would be awesome!” Stiles grinned at him, bouncing a little and bobbing his head to the dance music that was blasting from the speakers. He wasn’t entirely getting that they hadn’t passed the ID check.

The bartender deadpanned, raising his eyebrows at Stiles. “Look, I could report you just for being in here, but I’m trying to be nice. You’ll take cokes, regular ones, got it?” he said, and turned gesturing at the shirtless bartender behind him. He added a gesture for him to try and keep an eye on them too, moving down the bar where someone was trying to get his attention.

Stiles smile faded a little at that before he sighed a little and smiled again. Well at least just about everyone here was nicer than they would be in a normal bar. “Okay, thank you!” He called after him.

After a minute, the shirtless bartender brought their sodas over, setting them down. “This one’s paid for,” he said, giving Scott a grin and motioning over to the guy who’d paid for it who raised his beer at Scott. Scott was so shocked he couldn’t help, but grin, picking up his drink and looking over at Stiles.

When they got their drinks and Stiles paid for his, he couldn’t stop himself from scoffing at Scott’s luck. “Oh, come on, are you kidding me? I’m the one that actually likes guys!” He blurted out before realizing what he just said. His jaw dropped a little as he tried to think of how he could take that back before he just turned away and sipped at his drink so that he could search for Danny on the floor instead.

Scott nearly spat out the drink of his coke he’d taken, but he did end up spilling a bit of it over onto his hand. “Wait, what?” he asked, catching Stiles’ shoulder. “Okay, we so need to have a talk.” he said, sitting his drink down and facing Stiles.

“Uh, now? Well...So yeah. All this time I thought I was batting for one team, but it looks like I’m swinging for both.” He said with a shrug, acting like he was talking about the weather or something like it wasn’t a big deal. His heart began to pound in his chest, since Scott was really the first person he was coming out to. Besides Derek, but Stiles didn’t count that as really coming out. More like, being dragged into the closet. And then being pinned against the closet wall - and _wow_! He really needed to stop that train of thought right there.

Scott laughed, grinning. “Dude, I’m happy for you,” he said and roped Stiles into a one armed hug. “When did you find out?” he asked, wiping the soda off his hands onto his jeans and picking his drink back up, turning so he could look out at the crowd, still looking for Danny - and for Jackson.

Stiles grinned and hugged his friend back, feeling better about it. “Not that long ago actually.” He replied, stirring his straw around in his cup as he thought about Derek. He still didn’t know what in the hell he was going to do about that, but he needed to figure it out soon. He pushed that thought out of his head quickly and looked around the dance floor before finally spotting their teammate. “Hey, I found Danny.” He piped up as he pointed over to him.

Scott nodded, sipping at his drink. He wanted to ask if Derek was what made him realized it - the connection between Stiles coming out to him just now and the incident at the pool making the connection in his brain. The way they’d been acting towards each other the rest of the time made him not, as well as seeing the Kanima crawling along the roof just as Stiles said he found Danny.

“And I found Jackson,” he said back, not taking his eyes off of him. Jackson was making his way to the spot of ceiling right above Danny and Scott knew they had to get to him fast. He sat down his drink, carefully, still not looking away from Jackson. “Get Danny,” he said.

Stiles nodded at that and set his drink on the bar before he quickly began trying to get through the crowd. “Danny!” He called over the loud music so he could try to get Danny’s attention, but so far his efforts weren’t getting through to him. He glanced up at the Kanima every now and again as he pushed his way through the crowd. He soon got stuck between a bunch of the guys and lost track of where their teammate had gone to. “Danny!” He exclaimed. Danny didn’t notice Stiles at all, all of his focus going into dancing with an attractive shirtless stranger that he was using to help get rid of all of the stress he had been feeling.

Scott shifted his claws out as Stiles rushed past him to try and get to Danny. He didn’t take his eyes off of Jackson as he stepped slowly into the crowd of people grinding up against one another, dancing. He swore under his breath as one of the club’s smoke machine pumped smoke out, hiding Jackson under the cover of the white smoke curling out around the ceiling. Someone bumped into him too, causing him to lose sight of Jackson even further.

The smoke soon dropped though and when it did Scott nearly started freaking out, seeing that Jackson wasn’t on the ceiling anymore. He started searching the crowd, pushing people away from himself any time they got close enough that they’d stop him from making his way closer to where he’d seen Danny last.

Derek, however, hadn’t at all gone back to the warehouse as Scott had thought. Making his appearance all wolfed out and pissed off when he came face to face with Kanima-Jackson. “No, Derek!” Scott shouted, but Derek didn’t stop, reaching out with his claws and slashing them across the Kanima’s throat.

The whole time he’d been watching them, watching as they’d come in and Stiles had been happily entertained by the drag queens. That had pissed him off a little, sure - but he’d had to focus. To look for Jackson amongst the crowd and he’d found him when Scott did and had just had the luck of getting to him before Scott could.

The Kanima fell to its knees, but it crawled away. Derek hadn’t waited around that long to see it happening, removing himself from the crowd just as everyone started screaming and freaking out, backing away from the incapacitated people on the dance floor. Scott didn’t see Jackson either, but with the crowd clearing the floor he saw that Jackson wasn’t lying on it. He caught a trail of something on the ground from the spot where he’d seen Jackson collapse, following it out the backdoor that he and Stiles had broken in to the club through.

From there he followed it to the back parking lot, finding a still alive - but very naked - Jackson. He went to his side, mentally freaking out as he checked his throat, Jackson coughing, but not fully conscious. He couldn’t see any cuts, so thankfully Derek’s attempt to kill him had failed, but now they had to hide Jackson and Scott didn’t have the first clue as to how to do that. Jackson surely wouldn’t go willingly, that was for sure.

As more of the club goers began to notice all of the people collapsed on the floor, they quickly began to panic. They screamed and shoved each other so they could get out before whatever happened to the paralyzed people could happen to them.

Since Stiles had been in the more populated part of the crowd when he was trying to get to Danny, he was stuck with being shoved and elbowed in just about every part of his body. “Scott!” He tried to shout after his friend, but it was no use as he kept trying to push his way past people and get out of the crowd.

His efforts were unfortunately for nothing when he was accidentally knocked down by one of the more athletic men and he quickly tried to cover his head so he wouldn’t be trampled. Every time he tried to get back up his feet failed when one of the many young adults ran into him and knocked him back down. “Help me!” He shouted, wishing that Scott could hear him because no one else seemed to have any ideas of stopping in their rush.

Derek had stayed, waiting for the crowd to get mostly out the doors before he planned on following, escaping amongst the mass of faces so that he wouldn’t be noticed. He heard Stiles shouting for Scott and he saw Scott rushing towards the back door, eyes plastered on the ground at something. He scowled, confused as to what was going on.

Then he heard Stiles shouting for help and his mind immediately focused on that sound, trying to figure out where it had come from. He didn’t figure it out, but he saw the body on the floor that people were tripping over in their rush to leave and he just knew. “Stiles!” He called as he dove into the throng, knocking over a couple more people as he fought his way to where Stiles was trying to get up.

As soon as he reached Stiles, he wrapped him up in his arms, grunting as someone kicked him in the back of the head - trying to jump over them to get out. He held his spot, shielding Stiles until a couple minutes later the crowd had thinned considerably and they were left alone on the dance floor, except for the six guys paralyzed behind them.

When Stiles was suddenly covered, he looked up with wide eyes when he realized it was Derek. His heart nearly skipped a beat and he buried his face in Derek’s chest so he could keep under his cover. As the crowd faded, he hardly noticed that he had moved his arms tightly around him and kept his face buried in his neck.

His arms shook as he gripped Derek’s jacket tightly and he closed his eyes again as he took in Derek’s familiar scent that he had grown used to. He had been beginning to hyperventilate when he thought that he would actually be crushed to death but a lot of that panic faded the moment Derek put his arms around him. He didn’t know if he could keep trying to be mad at Derek, especially when he did something like this. Derek didn’t have to save him, but he did. He tried to take a slow breath and exhaled shakily as he kept his forehead against him. “T-Thank you.” He said softly, his knuckles turning white from the grip he had on his coat.

Derek looked down at Stiles, his stomach knotted with the way that Stiles was gripping him. He didn’t want to move, didn’t want this moment to be over just so they’d end up going back to the way they had been since Erica had jumped him and Stiles had flipped out. He swallowed around the lump in his throat, closing his eyes as he picked Stiles up in his arms, getting to his feet. He didn’t say anything as he carried Stiles out, the ambulances that screeched to a halt outside as well as the police cars being the only thing that drew his attention away.

Paramedics ran out of the ambulances, most of them rushing past the two of them, but one did stop in front of them. “Is he okay, does he need help?” the paramedic asked and Derek shook his head. “I’ve got him,” Derek answered. The paramedic nodded and rushed around them. Derek looked down at Stiles, “Where’s your Jeep?” he asked.

Stiles tried to even out his breathing, refusing to let go of him or even move his head just yet. “U-Uh, towards the end of the parking lot.” He said softly, taking a slow breath before he forced himself to look at Derek. “Hey, uh...Thanks. For doing that for me.” He said softly, biting his lip as he stared up into his eyes. He tried not to think about just how much he loved Derek’s eyes and swallowed hard.

“You can set me down here, I’ll be okay. I mean, uh, I know we haven’t talked in what seems like forever, but I’m really, really thankful for what you just did for me.” He slowly got out, looking away from him before he put his head back on his shoulder for a moment so he could try to make himself stop feeling dizzy from the stress of that experience.

Derek listened to Stiles answer, starting off in that direction as Stiles thanked him. He refused to look down, refused to do anything that would hurt him any more than what carrying Stiles to his Jeep was doing to him. He ignored Stiles request to be put down until they reached his Jeep, making sure that Stiles would be okay to stand before breaking contact with him. Stiles shifted a little when he was back on the ground, making sure that his legs weren’t too weak and that he was really was okay.

Derek hesitated on saying something, his hands clenching into fists at his sides as he realized he had no idea what to say. Scott coming up to them, with blood on his arms, drew his attention though.

“D-Derek, uh... hi,” he said, swallowing what he was about to say which he knew wasn’t safe to say around Derek. Derek strode over to him, shoving him against the wall behind Stiles’ Jeep and lifting him off his feet. Scott scrambled against the wall, gripping at Derek’s wrists.

“Hey, hey!” Stiles exclaimed, going around when he saw Derek slam Scott against his car. “Look, I’m okay! I’m not really hurt and there’s no real lasting damage anyways.”

“I may not be your alpha, Scott? But if you _ever_ abandon Stiles like that again, making me have to do your job? You won’t have to worry about anything aside from what plot of ground you want to be buried in.” He growled, letting go of Scott. Scott dropped to the ground, stumbling at being let go and rubbing at his now aching shoulder, watching as Derek stormed off.

“Did you get you know what into the backseat?” Stiles quickly went back to the driver’s seat and got in before he checked and saw Jackson asleep. “Okay, thank god. We need to get the hell out of here before one of my dad’s deputies recognizes me and we get in even more trouble.”

Scott got back to his feet, rolling his shoulders as he watched Derek walk off past the light of the street lamps. He climbed into Stiles’ Jeep, nodding in agreement. He looked up as he was about to reach for his seatbelt, groaning as Stiles’ dad’s cruiser pulled in directly in front of them, the siren chirping before turning off.

“Too late,” he said, glancing over at Stiles. Stiles’ dad was getting out of his cruiser. “Go, get rid of him!” Scott said, freaking out a little the closer Stiles’ dad got.

Stiles let out a groan the moment he saw his father pull up. “Oh my God, could this get any worse?!” He exclaimed, earning a groan from Jackson. “That was a rhetorical question!” He shouted at the mostly unconscious co-captain of their team.

He got out of the car and took a deep breath, heading out to go greet his dad. “Hey dad! Nice seeing you here!”

John crossed his arms as he approached Stiles. “What are you doing here? I thought you and Scott went home.” He said, already a little angry.

Jackson started to sit up, “Wassgoinon?” He groaned. Scott pushed him back down. “Go back to sleep, Jackson.” He said, glancing out the windshield as he listened to what Stiles and his dad were saying.

“Well, uh, after all of that excitement that’s been going on, we figured that we needed to do something to get it all out. So we came clubbing.” Stiles shrugged a little.

John turned and looked at the club, looking back at his son. “This isn’t exactly your type of club.” He said, his eyebrows knitted and rose.

Stiles looked back at the club for a moment before he looked back at his dad. Well, this was going to be awkward. “Well, this is a conversation that we need to have.”

John stared at his son, crossing his arms a little tighter over his chest. “You’re not gay.” he said, firmly. It wasn’t as if he and Stiles were the closest right now, but he felt like he at least knew that much about his son.

“I could be gay!” He exclaimed defensively before thinking about it. “Okay, no, you’re right. I’m open-minded so I don’t think I can just pick one. So I’m like half-way gay. Well, bisexual is the term, but you catch my drift.” He shrugged his shoulders a little. As he thought about Derek, he realized there was no way he could ever be entirely straight.

John stared dumbfounded before sighing and rubbing at his forehead. “I’m just going to skip straight past that, we can talk about it more later.” he said and started for Stiles’ Jeep to talk to Scott.

Scott shifted in his seat as John started to walk past Stiles, Jackson continuing to be half-awake and half-asleep in the back. “Quiet!” He said through clenched teeth.

“Dad!” Stiles exclaimed, to get his attention before coming up with something as fast as he could. “We’re here for Danny. He just broke up with his boyfriend and we wanted to get him out and take his mind off of it.”

John stopped, listening to what Stiles had to say, gritting his teeth a little. “See, I’m having trouble believing that, because this is the second crime scene you’ve just happened to have shown up at Stiles. At this point, I’ve been fed so many lies between you and Scott, I’m not sure I know the kid standing in front of me anymore, now what the hell is going on?” He said, resting his hands on his hips.

Jackson was officially starting to wake up now and Scott groaned. “Jackson, I’m sorry, but you’re just going to have to forgive me for this,” he said, and drew his fist back, punching Jackson in the face. Jackson fell back onto the back seat, thankfully unconscious again.

“I’m telling the truth. We saw that he’d been really down lately and so we figured that it would be better to help him find someone much better than his lame ex.” He replied. “So that’s why we had him meet us here. That way he could dance and mingle with some good guys.”

John bit at his lip for a second after Stiles finished, leaning his head back as he let out a sigh. “I’m sorry, it’s been a long week. You guys are good friends, but I swear if I get home tonight and you and Scott aren’t there - I’m taking your keys.” he said and returned the wave that Scott had directed at him before striding away to go and deal with the mess of the club.

“Alright, we’ll be there. See you later, Dad.” Stiles called after him before heading back to his Jeep and getting in. “Well that was getting awkward for a moment.” He groaned a little before starting it up and beginning to drive off. “So what are we going to do with Jackson?”

“I - I don’t know,” he said, glancing back at Jackson. “We need to take him somewhere where we can keep him long enough to figure out what to do with him - or longer.” He said.  
Stiles sighed a little at that, shaking his head as he thought about what would be perfect for it. 

“Okay, I’ve got an idea but I don’t know if you’ll like it.”

“Does it involve breaking the law, because your dad’s pretty pissed at the both of us already, especially you,” he groaned, leaning his head back before looking over at Stiles.

“I’m pretty sure that it’s a given that it’s gonna involve breaking the law. Also thanks for the reminder.”

“Sorry, point taken. I was just trying to be optimistic that we might not get in trouble this time,” he said, turning his eyes back to the road.

“We have a guy passed out in our back seat that turns into a murdering lizard.” He pointed out. “I’m pretty sure that everything we do involving this will involve trouble. So uh, the best thing we can keep him in is something like one of the police transport vehicles. We just take it into the woods and talk to him until he realizes what’s going on.”


	16. Advice

Scott had nodded, taking over driving Stiles’ Jeep once they’d gotten Jackson into it and followed Stiles to the woods where they left him. They’d thankfully made it back to Stiles’ house just before Stiles’ dad did - giving them enough time to rush upstairs and pretend they were asleep.

The whole next day they spent taking shifts watching the van where Jackson was, Allison not really able to help out until after school. Then of course it turned out that the messages that Stiles had been sending to Jackson’s parents weren’t exactly all that convincing and they had to rush to move him somewhere else.

Once he’d been moved they discussed what to do with him, settling on just keeping him there for now until they could convince him that they were just trying to keep him from hurting anyone. Scott offered to stay to watch him with Allison so Stiles could take a break, having been the one to stay with Jackson most of the day.

Stiles really wasn’t having any fun babysitting Jackson, especially since he really didn’t seem to get that at night he kept turning into a homicidal maniac. He figured Jackson would at least get it eventually but he was wrong. He also didn’t appreciate having to be the one to have to put some pants on Jackson since he had to have his junk all up in his face. There was only one person’s junk he cared about lately and they were currently at a point in their relationship where he couldn’t even do anything with it.

He thought that he had been doing such a good job on updating Jackson’s parents as he pretended to be them, until he discovered that it just sent them right to his dad. Of course, the time he tries to help save people, it turns into a blown out of proportion kidnapping.

\----------------------------------

Lydia had spent her day wondering where the hell everyone was, ending up going home about half-way through the day with the excuse that she had a headache. Allison told her via text not to worry, that they’d still have that conversation soon, but that was of little comfort to her. She sighed as she went over her work that she’d picked up from her teachers before leaving, lying on her stomach in bed as she swung her legs behind her back and forth.

Allison had thankfully told Stiles that Lydia was home and he headed over there so that he could finally try to make it up to her from when he had to ditch her for hours. He didn’t text her until he pulled up in her driveway, letting her know that he was there so they could talk about what had been going on with her.

 

Lydia glanced up from her homework, her phone going off on her nightstand, vibrating against the hardwood. She picked it up and looked at the message, rolling her eyes. She still wasn’t quite ready to forgive him for that, and she didn’t want to talk to him either - but she still wanted answers, and she felt maybe she could get them from Stiles since Allison still wasn’t planning on telling her yet.

_‘You had best have a good explanation on why you ditched me.’_ She texted to him, getting up from her bed and gathering up her homework, setting it on her desk. She sighed as she looked in the mirror, quickly running her brush through her hair before she opened her door. She didn’t go down to greet him, waiting instead in her room as she sat back down on her bed. Her mom was home downstairs and would likely answer the door.

Stiles tried to think of what he could tell her and sighed a little as he got out of the car. He pocketed his phone and knocked on the door before he was greeted by her mom again.  
She let him go upstairs since it was the second time he’d been there and he found her room from his memory before knocking on the door. “Lydia, it’s me.” He said softly, going through a quick run through of what he could and couldn’t tell her. Surprise, surprise the ‘cannot tell’ list was just about everything.

“Come in,” she said, setting her phone down on the nightstand. She’d sent Jackson another text, asking him where he was, but she didn’t expect an answer. “Have a seat,” she said, patting the spot on the bed next to her, crossing her legs in front of her as she scooted so her back was resting against her pillows and the headboard.

Stiles nodded and sat down on the bed, looking her over for a moment. “How are you feeling?” He asked curiously. “Is your headache still bad?”

“I didn’t have a headache,” she said simply, shrugging. “I was just tired of going from class to class, wondering what’s going on - seeing the empty desks and not getting any answers from Allison.” she continued, picking at bits of lint on her blankets.

“So what’s your excuse for not being in school?” she asked, looking up at him.

“I’ve been helping Scott clean his house up because of the break in.” He replied. “I figured helping him get his house back in one piece was more important than Harris’ class.”

Lydia nodded, not really wanting to believe him, but she didn’t know his tells - didn’t know what signs he gave to show he was lying, she didn’t know him well enough yet. “Speaking of which,” she said and looked up at him expectantly, still picking at the lint until she forced her fingers to stop. “What happened last night?” she asked. “Where did Jackson go? Why - Why was Derek there and what was wrong with Erica?” she bit her lip to stop herself, knowing if she asked too much at once Stiles probably wouldn’t be able to answer everything. If, of course, he answered any of her questions at all.

Stiles raised his eyebrows a little at all of her questions, cocking his head. “Okay, one by one. I don’t know where Jackson is, he’s probably sick and stayed home or at a friend’s. I don’t think too much about what he does. As for Derek, he’s just kind of crazy like that. We were supposed to talk, since we’re friends, but we were fighting and Scott wanted him to cool off so he didn’t want him to come into the house and fight in front of everyone. With Erica, what can I say? She tried to fight with Allison and our little Alli knocked her out cold.” He said with a shrug, liking all of those answers.

Lydia bit at her lip, a cold anxiousness gripping at her stomach. “I feel like you’re lying to me. Like _everyone_ is lying to me.” she said quietly, though wish restrained passionate anger. “I saw what it looked like downstairs, Stiles. I know Allison said it’s complicated and I get that it is, I really do.” she continued, pressing her lips tightly together and wrapping her arms around her legs as she brought them to her chest, resting her head on her knees for a second.

“I feel like I’m going crazy, because if you’re not lying then none of this still makes any sense. This whole thing started going downhill that night at the school, and with everything that’s been going on since - that weird way that all of you look at me as if you’re scared that I’m going to lose it at any second, it’s not _helping_.” She said, lifting her head to look at him.

“Lydia, you’re _not_ crazy. You got attacked by a lunatic on the lacrosse field and that’s not something that wouldn’t leave lasting effects.” Of course, the effects of that were completely different than what he thought they would be. “If we lie to you, it’s not because we don’t trust you, it’s because we want you to get back to the way things were. You just need to trust me on this. It’s a shot at getting back to normal. We don’t want to stress you out even more with a ton of drama when you’ve already been through a lot. Honestly, I’m pretty sure you don’t want to know what’s going on. It’s relationship drama after relationship drama, Allison dealing with crazy relationships, and then the whole break in fiasco. That’s why we tried to keep you safe last night. We didn’t want you getting hurt and making everything worse on you.” Technically that was the basic truth.

“Not knowing what’s going on is stressing me out, don’t you get that?” Lydia said, looking at him with pleading eyes. “You don’t know what it’s like to look at people you’ve called friends - sometimes even more than just friends - and feel like you have no idea who they are anymore. To feel like... like everything that you thought was true isn’t and every time you think you’ve figured something out, something else happens and it starts all over again.” She said in a rush, shaking her head as she looked down at her knees.

“How can I trust anything of what any of you say, when none of you will trust me enough to tell me what’s really going on?” she asked, staring over into Stiles’ eyes, feeling her own tear up.

Stiles felt really guilty about having to lie about everything to her and for having to avoid her. “We really have been really shitty, I get that, and I’m sorry. I can’t tell you everything today, but one of these days I’ll be able to. I’m really sorry about it and I know it’s really hard to see all of this going on and not being able to help as much as you want, believe me.”

He leaned forwards and hugged the strawberry blonde girl, rubbing her back as he tried to help her feel better. He had spent so much time thinking about what it would be like to hold her, and now that he had gotten it, he realized it wasn’t what he wanted romantically. He thought about Derek carrying him last night and he knew that he had never felt more safe in his life. “Look, I know you have no reason to believe me right now, but I promise you that everything will be okay.”

Lydia reluctantly let Stiles pull her into a hug, wiping at her eyes with the tips of her fingers. As much as she wanted to throttle him right now, she knew she was being at least a little silly. That didn’t mean, however, that she would forgive him so easily. “Just... at least try hiding it better? If you really want things to get back to normal for me, then if something is going on - don’t drag me into it.” she said, pulling away from him. “You’re a good guy, Stiles,” she began. “Don’t make me wait longer than you have to, to tell me what’s going on, okay?”

Stiles smiled at that before he decided that he may as well tell her something to help her feel a bit better. “So uh, can I ask you something? You’re better at the whole relationship thing than me so uh, I figured you’d know better.” He started, before trying to think of how to talk about it. “So, what do you do when you like someone, but at first they say they want to do more with you, but not have a relationship? But then it doesn’t end there and you get to the point where you get really comfortable with them and always want to be with them, but they distance themselves from you? And then, uh...” He swallowed hard, feeling his voice waver a little. “And then, uh, they accidentally do something really stupid, and when you leave, they come to see you and tell you that they only distanced themselves because they care too much? But then, neither of you can really talk to each other afterwards because it’s really awkward, but you can’t stop thinking about them?” He asked, knowing it sounded like a ton of nonsense. “What do you do?”

Lydia pursed her lips as she listened to Stiles, surprised that he was asking her for relationship advice only because she hadn’t known that he was seeing anyone. “Well,” she said slowly, tilting her head a little to the side as she thought of what she would do. “I wouldn’t get myself into that situation.” she said, nudging him. “That being said... I don’t think there’s any such thing as caring too much. It sounds to me like they’re keeping something from you - like there’s a reason behind them holding back from you. You can’t let the awkwardness of whatever falling out you had stop you from figuring out why, if you really like this person.”

“If they care about you as much as they told you, they’ll tell you, I promise,” she said and gave him a small smile. “And if they don’t I _guess_ I can find it in my heart to loan you my shoulder.”

“Well, uh, the thing is, what if we can’t be together? There’s like a lot of reasons of why we shouldn’t be together, but I can’t stop thinking about him, and I really want to be with him. Like all the time. Do you think I should talk to him?” He asked softly. “Or, what should I say when I do talk to him? I think he’d probably get a little frustrated if I said I really liked him.”

Lydia did a double take whenever Stiles said ‘him’, not even really sure that she’d heard it properly until he said it again. “Oh, honey,” she said sympathetically, taking his hand in hers. “I can’t tell you what to say, but I would definitely talk to him. Just think about how you’re feeling, about what happened and what he’s said and I’m sure you’ll figure out what to say.” she said and gave his hand a gentle squeeze. She wanted to ask him who it was, the only gay guy she knew was Danny, but she knew that Danny wasn’t who he was dating. She didn’t even know if she’d know who he was dating if he told her.

Then it clicked in her head with what he’d said earlier about Derek, about how they were fighting and she didn’t ask but she would almost bet on that’s who he was talking about. “Would it be selfish of me to ask you to let me know how it goes?”

Stiles felt a lot better about that and slowly smiled wider at her words. “Thank you so much, Lydia. You really helped out a lot so I’ll tell you how it all went as soon as it happens. I’ll keep to that this time. I at least owe you that, right?” He asked, going to at least tell her as much as he could about talking to Derek when he finally got the courage to.

“If you don’t, you’ll be sure to avoid me for the rest of your very short life Stilinski,” she said with a sweet smile as she tilted her head at him. She pressed a kiss to his cheek and got up from her bed. “Come on, go, I still have homework to do and you’ve got some words to come up with for your boy toy.” she said, opening her door and resting her side against it as she waited for Stiles to get up and leave.

“Oh he totally is a boy toy.” He said with a laugh as he got to his feet. “Maybe I’ll keep visiting so we can talk about how dumb boys are or something.” He joked, trying to help her feel a little better as he stepped out of her room and looked back at her.

Lydia laughed, shrugging. “Drive safe, Stiles,” she said, wiggling her fingers at him before shutting the door behind him. No, she hadn’t gotten any answers from him, but she did feel better about the whole thing despite that.

Stiles headed out to his car and got into it before he pulled out his phone. He summoned up all of the courage he had and texted Derek. _‘Hey, can we talk? In person?’_

Derek had spent most of his day having Isaac, Erica and Boyd train. They were getting closer when it came to fighting, but their shifting was still nowhere near where he wanted it to be and he was worried that he might have to break out the old family chest he’d brought from the old house. He didn’t want to use it, he knew how painful it was, but he wasn’t entirely sure that they had the option not to use it.

He finally had given in and went upstairs to his room so he could sifting through the chest filled with mildly rusted chains and collars that looked like some sort of fucked up ancient torture device. It really was, when it came down to it, but he’d clean it up if they had to use it at all. He heard his phone going off on the bed where Isaac had been watching him.

“Can you check that?” he asked without thinking, trying to untangle two of the devices. Isaac nodded and looked at the message.

“It’s from Stiles, he wants to talk to you.” Isaac said, holding out the phone to Derek even as Derek was dropping what was in his hands to take his phone from Isaac. He read over the message and it was exactly as Isaac has just told him. He was instantly in panic mode because he didn’t know if he should go or not. On the one hand he really wanted to see Stiles, and on the other was everything that had happened since their fight hadn’t ever really ended.

“Are you gonna go?” Isaac asked, resting his forearms on his knees as he looked up at Derek. Derek stared at the message for a minute before tossing his phone back on the bed.

“No.” Derek said. He went back to what he was doing a little more angrily. What the hell did Stiles want to talk about anyway? What more could he do to screw this up aside from meeting Stiles right now? Isaac furtively glanced over at Derek and sent Stiles a message back himself, knowing Derek wouldn’t like it - but he and the others had gotten really sick of dealing with a heartbroken Derek.

_‘Come over.’_ he sent back, putting the phone back where it was and going over to try and help Derek with the... he didn’t even want to know what they were called.

Stiles slowly smiled when he read the message, taking a slow breath before he began driving to the warehouse. He gave himself a pep talk the entire way, telling himself that it was so much better to talk to him and get everything out there in the open instead of just letting themselves keep being this way. Even if Derek decided that he didn’t want to go back to the way they were afterwards, at least Derek would know.

\----------------------------------

When he finally got to the building, he parked and gave himself one final boost of confidence before he turned the car off and got out so he could go upstairs. He had Derek’s coat in his arms, having hidden it in his car for the past few days with the intentions of returning it. When he knocked on the door, he shifted on his feet before it opened and Erica answered. “Stiles.” She greeted, looking him over.

“I’m here to talk to Derek. He told me to come over.” He stated. Erica nodded a little at that, looking him over before motioning him to follow so that she could lead him to Derek.

Isaac had helped Derek with the restraints, sorting them back a little more organized in the chest. He didn’t mention a word about Stiles until Derek heard a car pulling up outside. He frowned, getting up to see who it was, but Isaac blocked his path.

“There’s something I should probably mention,” Isaac started and Derek frowned at him. He heard Erica open the door and he glared at Isaac whenever he heard Erica speak Stiles’ name. “Yeah... I sent him a reply.” Isaac explained.

“You had no right,” Derek told him angrily, looking up at Erica as she walked in with Stiles following close behind. Stiles lightly chewed at his lip when he saw Derek, swallowing hard and feeling really nervous again. It was hard to be really close to him again and not get to hug him or kiss him.

Derek looked back at Isaac, focusing his glare. “We’re not done.” he spat out, brushing past him.  
“Let’s get this over with. Clearly I don’t have any say in the matter,” he grumbled, stepping between Stiles and Erica and leading the way back downstairs, expecting Stiles to follow.

Stiles shifted a little when he saw Derek glare at Isaac and sighed a little as he crossed his arms over his chest. “Oh, okay.” He said softly, following a few steps behind Derek the entire way. “Listen, I’m sorry.” He murmured, looking down at the ground for a moment. “For stealing your car, and for shutting you out.”

“Not here,” Derek said, flicking his gaze back over his shoulder. “Not if you want privacy for this.” he added, stopping at the foot of the stairs. “Then again privacy seems to be a foreign concept to some people when it’s not their lives, so why not here?” he asked sarcastically, gesturing helplessly at the room.

“Well, when you’ve got keen as Hell werewolf hearing, not much is gonna stop them from hearing it, right?” Stiles asked, shrugging a little. “Unless you want to go outside in your car or something? It’s up to you really.”

“Just... anywhere, but here right now.” Derek replied, reaching up to rub at the back of his neck.

“Let’s go out to your car then. Maybe we can drive somewhere private, just in case?” Derek nodded, he picked up his jacket from over by Stiles’ drum kit, slipping his arms through the sleeves and taking his keys from the pocket even as he pulled out a cigarette to place between his lips. “Come on,” he said, lighting the cigarette as he walked to the door, pulling it open and starting down the stairs already. He didn’t bother to ask Stiles for his leather jacket back, which he saw that Stiles had been holding. He knew it would smell like Stiles and until he knew how this was going to end he didn’t want it yet.

He didn’t wait to see how close Stiles was following behind him, unlocking the doors and climbing into the driver’s seat. Starting the engine before he cracked the window.

Stiles watched Derek before he followed him outside. “Thanks for talking to me, and for last night. I could have gotten really hurt, but you saved me and I don’t know how I can repay you for that, so I just want you to know that I’m really thankful for it.” He murmured as he stared at his back. He still held onto Derek’s coat even after he got into the car, buckling up before he glanced back over at Derek. “I should have brought this back sooner, but so much kept happening and I...Honestly I wanted to keep a hold on it.” He admitted but wasn’t going to tell him he had slept with it the first few nights.

“Its fine,” Derek said, shifting into reverse as soon as Stiles was buckled in. He didn’t bother wearing his own. He pulled the car around, driving away from the warehouse. He didn’t give himself any specific destination, not really caring where they went so long as they weren’t in earshot of the rest of his pack. They’d been not so subtle in their hint dropping since they’d somehow heard about Derek saving him at the club and Isaac... well, Derek needed the space, even if part of it was occupied by the source of his torment.

He held his cigarette up to the crack of the window, the wind rushing past pulling the ashes off until he brought the cigarette back to his lips. “Say what you came here to say.”

“I came here to say that I’m sorry. That I don’t want to be like this with you anymore.” Stiles replied as he looked out the window. “I’m tired of being angry at you, especially for something that wasn’t your fault. I’m tired of constantly thinking about you and not being able to see you. I actually miss just about everything about you, and I’m sorry for locking you out of my room and not talking to you. I was jealous and I was stupid, and I let my anger get the best of me. I want to put this whole stupid thing behind us and go back to the way we were.” He just began saying everything that was on his mind before he had to pause for a moment. “I mean, unless you don’t want to, but I’m hoping that we can at least be friends again. I...I don’t want to lose you.”

Derek drove silently as he listened to Stiles talk, wishing that he didn’t want to just stop the car and wrap Stiles in his arms. He was so happy that Stiles wanted to go back to how they were, but he was still hurt, still vulnerable. “It’s too much, Stiles.” he muttered loud enough over the wind coming in through his window that Stiles could hear him. The hand that held his cigarette was shaking so he brought it to the steering wheel, covering the evidence aside from how tight he was gripping at it.

“I.. We care about each other. That puts you in even more danger than before. If anyone found out, if the Argents found out, they’d use you against me. They’ve used people I care about against me before and after Kate I -” he cut off, not having meant for that to come out at all. “Shit,” he said under his breath, placing his cigarette between his lips. “There’s a reason I didn’t want to get close to you, you get that, right?” he asked softly, keeping his eyes locked on the road.

Stiles had to pause at that, staring at Derek when he mentioned Kate’s name. “Wait a minute, you were a thing with Kate?” He asked with wide eyes, slowly processing all of that information. “I need you to pull over the car, like right now.” He said softly, needing to get something out of the way first before he could even say anything about everything else that Derek had said. “Just, pull over for just a minute for me.”

Derek grit his teeth together, not saying a word as he looked for a spot to pull over. Somehow having driven them to a residential area, he pulled over in front of one of the houses that was dark, the inhabitants likely asleep. He shifted the Camaro into park, leaning more against the door of his car, slipping his eyes closed as he rested his head against his hand.

Stiles got out of his seat belt and moved to face Derek better before he quickly pulled Derek into a tight embrace. He ran his fingers through his hair, resting his head against Derek’s as he closed his eyes. “I’m so fucking sorry, Derek.” He said softly, trying his best to help him feel better. He gently rubbed Derek’s back with his other hand to comfort him.

“Listen, Derek. My best friend is a werewolf, I’m pretty sure that even if we weren’t doing this, I’d still keep getting into trouble. There’s no possible way for me to get out of this lifestyle, so I may as well just go all the way with it, right? I won’t give up on this. I can’t. They won’t be able to do anything to me, because nothing they can do will change this. Don’t push me away, Derek. Let me care about you.”

Derek flicked his cigarette out the window, ignoring the way that all of his thoughts were telling him how bad of an idea this was. He wrapped his arms around Stiles, burying his face into Stiles’ neck. Being so close to his scent hit him harder than thinking about Kate did and he breathed heavily as he listened to Stiles speak.

“I just... I can’t promise that I won’t let you down. I might end up thinking it’s too much again and I can’t go through that. I can’t go through knowing this puts you in so much more danger, I can’t trust that they won’t use you to get to me.” he murmured, gently pulling away from Stiles, enough to look at his face. “I lost you once because of my own stupidity, if I lost you again - or you died, I...” His voice petered out, gritting his teeth together.

“I won’t let them.” Stiles told him quickly, kissing his head softly. “I’m in too deep, Derek. There’s no turning back for me. I don’t know what’s going to happen tomorrow or in the future, but all I know is that I want you. You won’t lose me. I’ll be careful and I won’t let them find out about us. And if they do try to use me, I won’t give them anything they want. I’m not going to let them hurt you by using me, okay? You can’t just...make me give up on you, because I won’t.”

“I just hope you know what you’re getting yourself into with me,” Derek said, his voice sounding strained. “I swear to God, if anything happened to you I don’t know if anyone could stop me from killing every single person involved.” He said, swallowing with a little difficulty. “None of this has been easy, but things are going to be even more complicated now.”

“That’s fine with me, I like complicated.” He told him softly, pulling away just enough so that he could rest their foreheads together. He smiled at Derek, cupping his face in his hands. “I’m going to be here with you, no matter what, okay?”

“Promise?” Derek asked, smirking just a little. After this was over he was going to have to thank the hell out of Isaac, and probably apologize too.

Stiles grinned when Derek smirked and nodded. “Yeah, you’re never getting rid of me. I’m going to bug you for the rest of your life.”

“Good,” he said through a smile, tilting his face up and kissing Stiles. Derek tried to push the little voice in the back of his head away, repeating that this was a bad idea. He had Stiles back and that was all he cared about. He felt immensely better, slowly relaxing his shoulders. He couldn’t think of anywhere else he’d rather be.


	17. Buste (Domestic)

Stiles kissed him back, moving his arms around his neck as he slowly deepened the kiss. He couldn’t stop grinning against his mouth, just so happy that this had gone so well. He was going to have to thank Lydia so hard for giving him the courage to talk to Derek.

Derek pressed his lips against Stiles’ mouth with enthusiasm, slipping his hands under the back of Stiles shirt. His eyes were closed so he didn’t notice the movement in the house they were parked in front of. His hands were too busy, working his tongue into Stiles’ mouth. He couldn’t ignore the light switching on suddenly, making him squint his eyes tighter even though they were already closed at the change in brightness.

“Who’s out there?” a voice called out and Derek swore after he’d broken the kiss. He scrambled around the car, realizing he’d left it running already so all he had to do was shift out of park. He did and pressed his foot on the gas, peeling away from the person’s house. 

Stiles couldn’t stop from letting out a low groan when Derek pulled away, looking a little disappointed. When he realized why, he started to laugh his ass off. He fell over so he was halfway on Derek’s lap, cackling and laughing so hard that he would wheeze every now and again. “O-Oh my God!” He screeched, gripping Derek’s jeans.

Derek was laughing too, just imagining the look on that person’s face. “That was... wow,” he said between laughs, “Maybe we should find somewhere to go.” he said finally, his laughter dying down, but a smile was still plastered on his face. He rubbed his free hand along Stiles’ back, hoping he wasn’t going to die from laughing so hard.

Stiles grinned at the sound of Derek’s laughter, snickering to himself and snorting a little as he tried to catch his breath before going into another fit of laughter. “P-Preferably where there aren’t any people. I mean, what if we were naked?” He soon cackled again and buried his face in Derek’s lap.

Derek laughed, “I don’t even want to imagine how much worse that would be.” he said, shaking his head. “Just try and get your seatbelt on soon, okay?” he asked, stopping at a light. It turned green and he drove through, only to end up coming up next to a stop sign where he saw an all too familiar police cruiser. “Shit, Stiles, get up,” he said, “Or stay down, I don’t know just - _fuck_!” he swore.

Out of reflex, Stiles sat up to see what was going on before his eyes widened and his jaw dropped the moment he saw his dad. “Oh, my _God_ , what do we do?”

“I don’t know! Pull over? Try and keep going and pretend we didn’t see him?” He asked, his brain floundering. Then the cruiser’s lights flickered to life and chirped at them - somehow conveying anger with their shrill noise. “Or, you know, he’s seen us already.” He muttered, shifting the Camaro into park as Stiles’ dad brought his cruiser to park in front of them.

Stiles let out a scream and began laughing again. “Oh my God! What do we do?! If we pull over, he’ll kill us, if we run, he’ll kill us!” He started cackling again, not only was he completely amused by Derek’s freaking out, he was afraid for his life.

“How are you laughing right now?” Derek asked, looking over at Stiles in confusion. John got out of his cruiser and had pulled out a flashlight, walking his way over to Derek’s car. “This is _so_ beyond not funny right now.” he said, shifting around in his seat.

John tapped on the window with the end of his flashlight and Derek grit his teeth together, pressing the button to roll the window down. “Sheriff,” he said in greeting.

“Hale and... Stiles?” His dad said after he’d leaned in to look at who was occupying the passenger seat.

Stiles bit his lip to hold in his laughter, smiling nervously at his father. “Hey, Dad. What’s up? Nice night for a drive, isn’t it?”

John took two glances between Derek and Stiles and then sighed, leaning his head back. “Why me...” he breathed, quietly enough for only Derek could hear. “Stiles, out of the car, now.” he said, looking back down and pointed at Derek. “You stay exactly where you are.”

“Yes, sir,” Derek said quietly, weakly glaring over at Stiles.

Stiles groaned a little and climbed out of the car before he went around to stand beside his dad. “What’s up, Dad?” He asked, pretending everything was normal.

“What’s up? _What’s up_ \- are you kidding me?” His dad said angrily, grabbing Stiles by the back of his shirt and leading him away where he thought Derek couldn’t hear as well. “I get a call saying that two guys are sitting in front of someone’s house, making out. I start heading that way so I can tell them to leave and I see the car I’m looking for is being driven by the ex-assumed murderer Derek Hale. And then _your head lifts up from his lap?_ I don’t know, Stiles, why don’t you tell me what the hell is up?”

Stiles couldn’t help but laugh at that. “Oh my God, they called the cops? _Rude!_ But, uh, the whole lap thing is all a big misunderstanding, Dad. I promise. My mouth was nowhere near his ding dong if that’s what you’re worried about. Well, I mean it was near it, but not in a sexual way.”

“Stiles, you were face down in his lap, I don’t see how I’m misreading anything here!” John said loudly, lowering his voice and positioning himself so that Derek couldn’t see Stiles past him. “You just came out to me last night, I got a missing prison transport, people are being murdered left and right with no valuable leads, and now this! I don’t have time for you to be running around with someone I once arrested! Is this - Is this because of your mother? Are you acting out or something, am I not doing a good enough job here?”

Stiles’ smile faded when at the mention of his mother and swallowed hard as he felt his heart hurt. “No...That’s not what this is at all, Dad. I’m not with Derek because of a little teenage rebellion. I’m with Derek because he’s actually a really, really good guy. The arrest was all a misunderstanding, he didn’t kill anyone remember?” He pointed out, crossing his arms over his chest. “I wasn’t giving him a blowjob, Dad. I wasn’t face down on his lap in a sexual way. We were laughing because we were talking in the driveway and we started kissing when the person came out. And so that’s why I was on his lap. I mean, you could even go check, I don’t think his dick is out of his pants, but you never know.”

“No that’s not, no,” John said, holding his hands up defensively before putting them together and sighing. “I just want to know what’s going on with you. I want to know that I don’t have to be worried about you because that’s all I’ve been doing lately, kid. I’m honestly about to just handcuff your boyfriend over there just to have some reason to get you to _talk to me_ about what’s been going on with you lately.”

Stiles got a wide and dopey looking smile on his face when he said the word ‘boyfriend’, really liking the ring of that. “Okay, so I’ve been hanging out with Derek a lot, and he’s the reason I realized that I’m bisexual. We got really close, and then we had a fight, because y’know, couples fight, and we just made up. So if I’ve seemed off lately, it’s because I was feeling down from the fight. I promise I’m okay, Dad. Especially now. Well, not at the moment because my dad thinks I was just blowing my boyfriend in the street, but you get it. I promise I will not blow him while driving. Not right now anyways.”

“Okay, I’m definitely arresting him,” John stated, turning and walking over to Derek’s Camaro. “Out, now, come on,” he said, gesturing for Derek to get out of the car. Derek did his best to look confused - considering he shouldn’t have been able to be listening to all of that - slowly getting out.

“No, no! Dad!” He exclaimed, going after him. This was going so bad, so fast. “I was kidding! _Please_ do not arrest, Derek! I mean, my grades are still all awesome so it’s not like I’m letting them slip because of a guy! That should say enough! Hell, the guy’s even helped me with homework!”

“Just - what the hell am I supposed to do here, Stiles? Please, explain to me how I should handle this when a week ago I was still convinced that you were head over heels for Lydia!” He said, and raised a hand to stop whatever response Stiles had, pinching his finger between his eyebrows. “Y’know, what, don’t answer that. I’m taking you home, Derek you... go wherever you’re living now.”

Derek glanced between them, swallowing carefully, “Stiles’ Jeep is at my place.” He said, and John closed his eyes as he sighed.

“Honestly, I haven’t been as in love with Lydia since I got into Derek.” Stiles replied, almost saying that the idea of him loving Lydia went out the window the moment he and Derek slept together. He groaned, moving his arms around Derek’s waist instead. “Come on, Dad! I promise I’ll be home before my curfew! He’s helping me study! We went out to go talk, and to get some food, and we’re going to go back because he promised he’d help study for my English test.” Or at least he would be studying English when Derek was making it very hard for him to speak right.

John looked between the two of them, pulling his hands down his face and looking down at the ground for a minute before looking up. “Home and in bed by midnight, and I want both of you in your own seats wearing seatbelts, understand?” he asked, looking pointedly at Derek first. He’d given Stiles a couple hours past his usual curfew, just because Stiles had honestly never looked more happy - and because he couldn’t argue with Stiles’ logic.

“Yes, Mr. Stilinski,” he said, tentatively wrapping his arm around Stiles’ shoulder. John nodded slowly, checking his watch.

“Good,” he said and looked over to Stiles. “Stay safe.” he said, wincing at how that sounded. “You know what I mean.” he said and started walking back over to his cruiser.

Stiles cackled at his father’s words, grinning as he leaned against Derek. “Thanks, Dad! And don’t worry, we’ll be safe in every meaning that word can have.” He called after him before he looked up at Derek. “Well, he didn’t shoot you or arrest you, so I’m taking that as a very good sign.” He said softly, moving his arms around his neck. “Maybe we can study anatomy later.” He whispered to him. “Also, should we buy dinner for the pack or no? Because I’m hungry and I can’t exactly eat you. I mean, I _could_ , but that would be illegal.”

The second John had left, Derek wrapped both his arms around Stiles, sighing. He’d never honestly been afraid of John, but in that moment he had been. “I don’t think I can eat after that, but it would be a nice gesture. I’ve been an ass lately.” he said and pressed a kiss to Stiles’ neck. “What would you want to eat?”

Stiles closed his eyes and tilted his head a little to give him easier access to his neck, shrugging a little. “Maybe some pizza? Although, isn’t that basically all you eat?”

Derek huffed a laugh against Stiles’ neck, tilting his head back. “It’s cheap, and I don’t have to make it. I don’t mind getting some if that’s what you want.” he said and stood up a little more as he rested his back against his car. “We should get out of the street though, before someone else calls your dad on us.”

“Do you even know how to cook?” Stiles asked curiously, pulling away just a bit to look at him better. “Hey, it could have been worse. My dad could have pulled us over with your dick actually in my mouth. There goes that idea off of my list of things to do with you. But, yeah, we probably should get out of the street.”

Derek rolled his eyes, pressing a brief kiss to Stiles’ lips before lowering his arms and reaching to get into his car. “I can cook, I just choose not to.” he said and motioned for Stiles to get in too. He sat down, pulling his seatbelt across his chest and clicking it into place.

Stiles grinned and shook his head as he went to the passenger’s side before getting in and resting his head on his shoulder once his seat belt was on. “Maybe we can get Chinese food. I can ask what your pack wants.”

“They’ll eat whatever we bring back, seriously. But you can ask if you want,” he said and shifted his car out of park, checking the cross road before continuing forward. It took a minute for him to get his bearings of where they were, but when he did he made his way towards the main area of town where all the food places were.

“They’re like a ravenous pack of wolves?” Stiles joked, pulling out his phone so that he could text Isaac. _‘Hey, what kind of Chinese food do you guys want?’_ He glanced up at Derek again before slowly grinning. “My dad called you my boyfriend.”

Derek smirked, glancing over at Stiles. “What else would he call me?” Derek asked, turning the radio on low as he drove.

\--------------------------------------

Isaac got the message and grinned, looking around for Erica. “Erica, I think it worked out well!” He said, getting to his feet so he could bring his phone to her and show her the message.

 

Erica looked at the phone before she grinned at him. “It’s about time! I wasn’t sure how many more hints we’d have to drop for them so they’d finally get it.”

“I’m just hoping this means Derek isn’t mad at me now,” Isaac said with a laugh, texting Stiles back with a list of what they normally ordered from the local Chinese place.

\--------------------------------------

Stiles felt the stupid butterflies again when Derek smirked. “Okay, so uh, when we park, I want you to say ‘I’m your boyfriend’ with that damn smirk. Because I’m not going to risk you crashing the car. Or getting pulled over again.”

Derek laughed, shaking his head. “You’re ridiculous,” He replied.

“And that’s why you like me.” Stiles snickered as he sat back. “I hope you know we have a lot of touching to catch up on.” He stated, looking at the text from Isaac.

“That’s not the only reason,” Derek added, hanging a left down the road the Chinese place was on. “And yeah, I know.” He said, reaching across the console to take Stiles’ hand in his.

“Awww, it isn’t? What else do you like about me?” Stiles asked curiously, taking his hand before he kissed his knuckles. “Also, is it bad if I have considered possibly getting stoned with you at some point...?”

“It’s a pretty long list,” Derek said and one-hand turned the wheel as he slowed down so he could pull into a space out front of the Chinese place. They didn’t have a parking lot, just the street out front. “And no, I don’t think it’s bad.”

“So you must, really, really, like me. Maybe we can say it little by little.” Stiles slowly grinned before he turned to face him. “Alright, big boy, say the words.”

Derek sighed, having hoped Stiles would forget. “I’m your boyfriend,” he sighed out, actually saying the words sending a happy rush through him. “Now let’s get the food.” he said, tousling his hand over Stiles’ head.

Stiles grinned at him, cupping Derek’s face before he quickly crashed their mouths together. Derek huffed a laugh against Stiles’ mouth, giving Stiles a quick kiss. “If you keep this up we’re never going to get anything done,” he said, pressing his mouth against Stiles’ again, grazing his teeth against Stiles’ lower lip.

“I’m pretty okay with that.” Stiles mumbled after pulling away just a little, grinning up at him before he winked. “I’m a great distraction.”

Derek laughed, “Let’s just get the food and head back. I’ll figure something out for getting us some alone time before you have to go home.” He said, bumping his nose against Stiles’. “I promise.”

“Maybe you could come home with me for a bit too.” Stiles grinned at him. “Oh my god, I think it’s the cutest when you do that. You’re ridiculously adorable, okay Sour Wolf?”

Derek laughed, “When I bump our noses or when I promise you stuff?” he asked, not entirely sure when Stiles had meant.

“When you bump our noses. It’s sexy when you promise me things.” He replied before scrunching his nose up. “Wait a minute, does this mean I’m the Alpha’s bitch now?”

Derek was smiling up until Stiles asked his question and he blinked, his smile fading. “I don’t even know how to respond to that,” he said, exhaling a silent laugh. “Look, you’re pack, if you want it.”

Stiles snickered, gently bumping their foreheads together again. “Well, damn, I was gonna get ‘Alpha bitch’ on a T-shirt or something. I thought it was gonna mean something super special when you mounted me, but uh, that’s fine too. Also, give me your jacket. The one you’re wearing. Just for a moment.”

Derek said, “All right.” slowly as he sighed, pulling away from Stiles and working his jacket off. It was a little more difficult considering they were still in the car and he had all the bits of the car in his arms’ way. He got it off though and held it out to Stiles. “Why d’you need my coat?”

“For science.” He replied, taking his seatbelt off before he pulled it on. He adjusted it a little before he glanced up at Derek. “Do I smell like you now?”

Derek frowned, raising an eyebrow at Stiles. “Is this a trick question or do you seriously want an answer to that?” he asked and shook his head before taking a breath in through his nose. “Your scent’s still there, but yeah. You smell like me.”

“Do you like it when I smell like you?” Stiles slowly grinned as he spoke, passing Derek the jacket he had borrowed from him.

“I like it when you smell like both of us,” Derek replied and sat the jacket in the backseat before opening his door. “Come on though, this place isn’t twenty-four hour,” he said chiddingly, giving Stiles a wink as he got out of the car. He jogged around to the other side, opening Stiles’ door for him.

Stiles laughed a little as he got out of the car, putting his hands in the pockets before he kissed him quickly. “Then I can conclude that my hypothesis is correct and I am probably considered an Alpha’s bitch.” He said softly, winking at him before he headed inside.

Derek sighed, shaking his head as he followed Stiles inside. He placed the order quickly, getting what Isaac and Erica wanted from Stiles in the process, paying with a credit card and leading Stiles to a table by the front door while they waited. “So, what are you going to do about Scott? Are you going to keep helping him?” he asked, not wanting to, but needing the answer.

“Well yeah, I mean, I kind of can’t just abandon my best friend for life.” Stiles pointed out, shrugging his shoulders. “I may not trust his judgment all the time, but he’s basically my brother.”

Derek nodded, glancing up when there was a crash and a slur of Chinese being shouted between the people in the kitchen. “You’re basically his pack,” Derek said and leaned back against his seat. “And mine, which I don’t even know how that works.”

“I’m bipackual.” Stiles replied, slowly grinning at him. “I don’t exactly play by the rules apparently.”  
Derek smirked, shaking his head. He changed the topic off of Scott, “So your dad knows - I assume some of your friends do too?” he asked, raising his eyebrows.

“Scott and Lydia only know I like guys. Other than that, just you, my dad, and your pack know for sure that I’m into you.” He replied, taking Derek’s hands before he began to play with them. “So, you’re still willing to tattoo me right? And maybe finish that drawing?”

Derek nodded, letting Stiles mess with his hands. The shouting in the kitchen had never really stopped and it was like background noise now, paired with the sounds of sizzling meat and the smells of rice and teriyaki. “I may or may not be happy with where the drawing is already... but yeah, if you figure out what you want. I’ll still need to get inks and a gun, but I’ll be able to.”

“What if I passed out in the middle of the tattoo? Would you keep going?” Stiles asked curiously before he grinned. “How much did you even get done of it? I didn’t get to see it. Besides, you look really hot when you draw. Just sayin’.”

“Probably not, unless that’s your plan. Pass out and wake up with it finished?” Derek asked, chuckling. “I got the majority of it finished. Filling in from memory, so it won’t be absolutely perfect. But I’m happy with where it is, so I don’t know. You can look at it when we get back.”

“Did you memorize my face?” He raised his eyebrows, kissing Derek’s knuckles lightly. “That’s kind of adorable because that means you can’t get me out of your head. Good to know it’s not just happening to me.”

“Could you make me sound any less like a lovesick teenager?” He asked, smirking. “I think our food’s done.” he said, glancing up as he saw their host carrying out a bag. They were texting the whole way and only glanced up to make sure they sat the bag on the table, before zombie-texting their way back to the kitchen. Derek slid his hands from Stiles, checking the bag for all of their stuff, turning the sweet and sour sauce _off_ of its side so that it wouldn’t accidentally spill open.

“Okay, we’re good,” he said, lifting the bag off the table and standing up.

“I like to think of it as puppy love.” He winked at him, watching their food come out before he looked back at Derek. “God, I have not had Chinese food in so long. I’m going to end up putting myself in a food coma, I know it.” He snickered, getting to his feet. “Do you need any help carrying anything?”

“I think I got it, just get the trunk for me,” he said, pulling open the door of the restaurant. Once outside he handed Stiles the keys.

Stiles nodded and opened the trunk before holding it up for him. “You know, it was actually kind of awesome driving this. It was a rush, mostly because I technically stole it, but still.”

Derek rolled his eyes, carefully sliding the bag of food into a little wire case that was attached to the inside of the trunk. “I’m just glad I found it in one piece. This was my sister’s graduation present.” He said, shutting the trunk once he’d made sure that Stiles’ fingers were in no danger of being closed in the trunk. “You can drive now if you want.” he said, leaning against the trunk.

Stiles almost groaned, feeling even more badly about it. At the offer of driving with permission though, he slowly smiled as he moved to stand between Derek’s legs. “I can?” He asked as he looped his arms around his waist and kissed his neck. “Are you sure?”

Derek nodded, cupping Stiles’ face in his hands. “I’m sure,” he said with a grin. “I let Scott drive it, remember?”

Stiles cocked his head as he thought about that. “True, but it was more of a you dying if you didn’t let him drive it situation.”

Derek shrugged, “Just means I trust you with driving it.” he said and pulled Stiles into a quick and tight hug.

Stiles grinned and hugged him a bit tighter as he buried his face in his neck. “You’re awesome. I promise I won’t crash or hit any pedestrians. It doesn't matter how many points each person is worth.”

Derek snorted, leaning his face against Stiles’ shoulder. “Let’s go then,” he said and pressed a kiss to Stiles’ shoulder, leaning back before ending the hug. He walked around to the passenger side, climbing in and adjusting the seat back so he’d have a little more room for his legs, shutting the door.

“Okay, I’m coming.” Stiles replied, slowly going around the car before he got in. He made himself comfortable in the seat before he started the car after putting his seatbelt on and slightly adjusting his rearview mirror. Once he checked that no one was behind him, he pulled out into the road and started heading back to the warehouse. He drove as carefully as he could while staying the speed limit, not wanting to anger Derek in any way. “Hey, maybe we should go to a closed course and see how fast we can get this.”

Derek shook his head, “Your dad would kill me.” he said, pulling his seatbelt on, which he’d forgotten when they’d left.

“Aw, the Big Bad Wolf is afraid of my dad?” He snickered a little, glancing over at him for a moment. “That’s adorable.”

“Your dad can be scary when he wants to be,” he said and looked over at Stiles. “But not scared of him any more than the Argents scare me.” he said, resting his head back on the headrest. “I seriously thought he was going to arrest me.”

“I thought he was gonna arrest you too. Thank God that I can think fast when I really need to.” Stiles smiled wider, shaking his head. “That would have been a total mood killer. First we get caught making out, then we get pulled over by my dad thinking that I was giving you a blowjob. What’s next? Is your pack going to walk in on us having sex?”

Derek laughed, “I sincerely hope not. Maybe I should buy some locks.” he said, glancing over at Stiles. Sighing as his mention of buying things reminded him of his lack of income. “I need to get a job, start getting paid. The warehouse works, but I don’t have a lot of money left for other things.”

“Are you still thinking about tattooing again?” He asked curiously, stopping at a light before he looked over at him. “Because that would be really badass. And I’d probably blow you like once a day, just out of excitement of dating a tattoo artist. It’s pretty awesome, because I mean you always hear people bragging about girls dating guys in college, or guys with high school chicks, but how often do you hear about people dating a tattooing werewolf?”

“I’m thinking about it still, yeah. With my schedule though - at this point I think I’d have to have my own shop.” He said, and tapped his fingers on his knee. “If I did that, I’d have to worry about hiring on other people, getting the shop licensed... There’s just not a lot of ways I can do this without spending every last bit of money I have.”

Stiles nodded at that, listening to everything that he had to say. “Is it something that you really, really want to do?” He asked him softly, reaching over to take his hand and intertwine their fingers together as he started driving again. “If it is, then I think you should do it.”

“I just don’t want to end up doing it and have nothing to show for it.” He said and gave Stiles’ hand a gentle squeeze. “I’d need to make flyers, advertise somehow. Maybe line some customers up before the shop opens or do some sort of deal to get people in the door quick.”

“You’re hot, so that’ll draw some people in.” He joked a little before smiling wider. “Listen, Derek, I’ll help you out when you start figuring out what to do. I’ll help you in any way that I can and I’ll get the pack to help too. I’m sure everyone at school will listen to what Erica says.”

Derek laughed, nodding. “I’ll figure it out soon, maybe if you get your tattoo idea ready you can be part of the advertising,” he joked, bringing Stiles’ hand to his lips and kissing the back of it.

“I already have a bit of an idea, but I’m not sure how much you’d be for doing it and there are still a few things I need to add to it.” He replied, grinning a little at that. “We’ll see how it goes.”

“Sounds good,” Derek said, leaning his seat back a little and quietly listening to the radio the rest of the way back to the warehouse. When they got back he had Stiles pop the trunk and retrieved the food, hesitating walking up. “So, did you actually have homework to do or was that just what you told your dad?” he asked, glancing over at Stiles’ Jeep.

“I do most of my homework in school now since I don’t have time at night.” He replied, snickering a little. “I figured it was easier to use that as an excuse rather than tell my dad to stop cock blocking me.”

Derek laughed, shaking his head. “It worked, at least,” he said, motioning for Stiles to follow him as he carried the food up the stairs to the door, which was half-open. He pushed it open the rest of the way and when he noticed that Erica and Isaac weren’t downstairs he turned his head toward the bedroom.

“Isaac, Erica, get down here!” he called up, bringing the food over to the table.  
Isaac bounded down the stairs, barely restraining a smile when he saw that Stiles was still with Derek. “You two make up?” He asked, bouncing on his heels a little.

“Isaac, seriously,” Derek said and Isaac withered a little, grinning impishly.

“Sorry, Derek,” he said, but he still looked at Stiles, waiting for an answer.

Erica was close behind Isaac, not even trying to hide her grin. “You can’t hold out on us, Derek. We’re deeply invested in this whole ordeal.” She stated.

Stiles looked between the betas and Derek before he slowly looked at Derek as he tried to think about it. He couldn't help but grin as he got the perfect idea, raising his hand a bit before he slapped Derek right on the butt. He figured that was a good answer for now if Derek didn't rip his hands off. Also, it was really fun to be able to do that again. Derek grit his teeth, biting back a smile as he shook his head, going back to unpacking the Chinese food. “I’m going to murder all of you in your sleep.” he muttered, unable to keep the amusement out of his voice.

Isaac was just stunned, but he laughed, shaking his head. “Guess that’s a good enough answer.” he said and wandered over to the table, sifting through what Derek had already unpacked and locating his teriyaki beef.

Stiles cackled at that and gently rubbed his side. “You know you can’t kill me, your life would be very boring.” He said softly before plopping down at the table so he could get his orange chicken.

“I’m really starting to like your style.” Erica snickered as she took her beef and broccoli. “I wasn’t expecting _any_ of this.”

“Good.” Stiles grinned through a mouthful of his food. “I’m going to be here so often. I know, I know, it’s not easy having someone new fighting for Papa’s attention, but I’m hoping someday you can call me mom.” He soon started to laugh, feeling a little like a step-mother.

Erica laughed at that and shook her head. “Man, Derek should have gotten with you sooner.”

“Are you calling yourself pack mom now?” Isaac asked and Derek sighed inwardly, grabbing his container of lo mein and sitting next to Stiles.

“Don’t,” Derek said, “You’ll encourage him to come up with even more nicknames for himself than he already has.” Isaac laughed, twisting noodles around his plastic fork and waiting for them to cool.

“If that’s true then he doesn’t really need my encouragement,” Isaac said and Derek nodded.

“Fair enough,” he said, jabbing his fork at a bit of bamboo.

“I am the pack mom.” Stiles said proudly. “I’m going to do the human parts of taking care of the pack, since I’m not going to train you guys. I’m not touching that with a twenty foot pole.” He stated, scrunching his face up.

Stiles soon thought something and slowly looked over at Derek. “Hey...How do you feel about vacuum cleaners?”

Derek raised his eyebrows. “You are not going to be the one cleaning in here, I know that look,” Derek said, shaking his head.

“Why not?” Isaac asked around a bite of food. “It’s not like you’re cleaning.”

“Because he’s making a dog joke,” Derek said and Isaac frowned, thinking about it a second before laughing.

“That was pretty good,” Isaac said. Derek just grunted, shoveling food into his mouth.

“Why not? Are you really afraid of vacuum cleaners?” Stiles asked with a smile before he looked over at Isaac. “He gets mad at me because I made so many dog related jokes, but I’m never going to stop.”

Isaac laughed, shaking his head as he ate his food. “So how did this happen, between you two? If you don’t mind me asking,” Isaac asked. Derek paused in his chewing.

“It’s a long story,” He said and glanced over at Stiles. “You can tell it if you want.”

Stiles tried to think of where to start before going right to the beginning. “I'm just going to basically tell you guys everything you need to know. So once upon a time, a long, long time ago, Scott and I were wandering the woods because I heard half of a body was found and I wanted to find the other half. Unfortunately, I got caught by my dad and he made me go home. While Scott was still out there, he bitten by Derek’s uncle and he lost his inhaler so we went to go find it. Then, out of nowhere this creepy ass, but really hot dude came out of the woods and told us we were trespassing before he was kind enough to give the inhaler back. Then he continued to creep around and follow us around, even when we got him arrested. So then one night the big bad wolf got shot by a special bullet and his crazy ass jumped in front of my car and almost got ran over. So I had to babysit him all day while he almost died and because he had a poisonous bullet in his arm, he almost made me cut his freaking arm off. Obviously Scott was able to get the bullet and we saved him. Then a bunch of other stuff started to happen after that, like him popping up out of nowhere every now and again. At one point we thought he got killed, so unfortunately for Derek Scott pinned all of his uncles' murders on him. Which led to this dude hiding out in my room, and then more crap happened until we had to go fight his crazy uncle for what seemed like forever. Then after that, we started hanging out and we got super close very quickly. Right before he turned you is right when we started becoming more well..physical.” He stated between bites. “Now he can’t get rid of me.”

Isaac listened closely the whole time, exhaling between his lips when it was done. “Sounds crazy,” Isaac said, setting his food down and going over to grab one of the crab Rangoon from the bag.

“Like I said, it was a long story,” Derek said and glanced over at Stiles. He bumped their legs together, giving Stiles a small smile.

Stiles grinned back at Derek and gently bumped him back. “Yeah, there’s a lot that’s happened, but I’m pretty happy that I met him. Sure I almost killed him when I learned he was going around biting people, but I’m happy.”

“I had good reason, you know that,” Derek said a little defensively.

“Well, I’m glad you bit me. I’ve actually got friends now.” Isaac said with a small smile.

“If he was going around biting people that really didn’t deserve a bite...” Stiles paused, slowly looking over at Derek and scowling at him for a moment. “Then I would have been a lot more pissed, but I’m glad it’s you guys.”

“I agree with Isaac. It’s a lot better being this way.” Erica piped up, smiling widely at the group.

“You’re just entertained by the fact that all the guys in school want you now.” Isaac teased. “And some of the girls from what I understand.”

“I’d watch it, she’s got claws you know,” Derek said, popping a forkful of noodles into his mouth. The last bite of his food.

“I can’t argue with that. It’s nice to not be invisible anymore.” Erica shrugged, really enjoying all of the attention.

Derek laughed, setting his tray down. “Well, you don’t have to worry about things like that anymore. By the time the year’s over you’ll probably be begging for some privacy every now and then.”

“Probably, but so far I’m enjoying just about everything.” She smiled widely.

Stiles grinned as he leaned against Derek, lowering his hand so that he could slowly trace small circles on his thigh.

“Well, I’m stuffed,” Isaac said, setting what was left of his food on the table. “You guys have anything planned?”

“I was just going to take Stiles home in a little while. Would you and Erica want to do a little training?” Derek asked. Isaac shrugged, looking at Erica.

“I’m game,” Isaac said.

“I’m fine with that.” Erica replied as she set her empty tray aside.

“It’s actually really fun watching you guys train. I feel like Derek would make a fun sports coach.” Stiles piped up.

Derek hummed in response, “I have an idea actually.” he said and looked over at Stiles. “You’ve got my coat still, the leather one?” he asked.

“Yep. It’s in your car.” He replied, looking back at him. “Do you want me to go get it?”

“Yeah,” he said, “Kind of need it for the idea I have.”

“And what’s your idea?” Isaac asked, raising an eyebrow in confusion.

“Let’s just say... werewolf version of hide-and-seek.” He said with a small grin.

“Oh god, do I even want to know?” Stiles asked, raising his own eyebrows at the look on his boyfriend’s face. Derek laughed outright at Stiles’ question. Isaac grinned over at Erica, he didn’t think they’d ever heard him laugh like that before - if ever. And tonight he’d been laughing a lot. Erica grinned back at him, enjoying just how happy Derek seemed to be when he was around Stiles. She was really thrilled that they made up, especially since if it put Derek in a good mood, training with him might be easier.

“Alright, how do we play this version?” Erica asked him curiously.

“Stiles is going to be nice and wear my jacket, I’ll wear my other one since it smells like him now. You and Isaac can compete to see who can find one or both of us first.” Derek explained.

“So we just need to find you both? Is there a catch?” Erica asked curiously.

“That sounds like a fun idea actually. I don’t know how you came up with it.” Stiles lightly teased Derek as he nudged him.

“The catch is you have to find us by scent, otherwise the switching of jackets is just pointless,” Derek said.

“Definitely more fun than our usual training.” Isaac said and Derek rolled his eyes.

“You usual training is to help you know how to defend yourselves - which is the most important thing right now. Unfortunately this means I’ve had to neglect your other training, which includes your sense of smell,” Derek said. “If you could smell danger before it came close, that would be better than having to fight - just as much as knowing how to fight when you’re confronted with that.”

“Completely by scent? Like do we have to have our eyes closed or anything?” She asked curiously.

Stiles played with Derek’s hand, humming to himself. “If they get better at it, we should play it in total darkness. I’ll stay away from the stairs and anywhere I can get hurt, because I really wouldn’t want to have to explain to my dad how I broke my legs during study group with you.”

“Completely by scent, but you can use your eyes to see where you’re going.” he said and gave Stiles’ hand a squeeze. “We’ll see how it goes, but you’ll have to get that jacket from my car first. You still have my keys.”

Stiles nodded at that and took off Derek’s jacket that he was currently wearing. “Make this smell more like you while I’m getting it.” He smiled at him before he headed outside to go get the coat.

Erica watched Stiles go before she smiled a little at Derek. “I’m glad you two worked things out.”

“I am too,” Derek said quietly and looked over to Isaac. “I’m sorry for getting so mad at you before.”

“Hey, you didn’t know if it was going to work out. It’s fine,” Isaac said and Derek nodded. He waited to put on his jacket though, wanting to keep the scent as freshly Stiles’ as possible until they started the game/training.

“I think he’s really good for you.” Erica added, deciding to just say that while Derek was willing to talk about it.

Derek nodded at Erica’s comment, not really knowing how to respond to it. Shortly, Stiles came back, wearing Derek’s coat and rubbing his hands over the sleeves to get it a bit more smelling like him just in case, and he didn’t have to worry about answering. He pulled on his jacket as Stiles walked back over to them.

“Alright, you guys know how to play, so just count up twenty or something,” Derek said and gestured for Stiles to follow. “And no cheating!” he added, heading deeper into the warehouse. Past the main area was their usual training area that he’d taken to using. Old things the previous owners had left were littered everywhere ranging from an old bus with no wheels on it to boxes of random useless junk.

Derek gave Stiles a wink and pulled off the jacket, tossing it into the bus. “Toss that somewhere and follow me,” he said under his breath to Stiles, holding his hand out for Stiles to take.

Stiles followed Derek out to the training area, looking around at everything for ideas on a place to hide. That is, until he heard what Derek said and quickly understood his real plan. “Oh my God.” He whispered, staring at him with wide eyes before he grinned. “That’s totally, yeah.” He took off the coat and hid it behind some of the boxes before he quickly went back to Derek and took his hand so he could follow him.

Derek smiled and led Stiles a winding path through the mess of the warehouse to a backdoor on the other side. Stairs were right next to it, which he climbed and at the top they were at the roof. The stars at this part of town were a bit more visible than most and after a moment of walking across the rooftop he finally stopped, laughing quietly as he pulled Stiles against him.  
“I think we have a few minutes, at least. They’ll figure it out eventually,” he murmured, wrapping his arms around Stiles’ waist.

Stiles grinned when he saw the secret place, looking up at the sky before he looked back at Derek. “This is totally awesome.” He replied, moving his arms around his neck. “Also that is something I would have never expected from you and as you’re probably going to start smelling, I’m now very attracted to you again.”

“Hmmm, not exactly interested in smelling... entirely,” he said, smirking. “Though I’m curious as to what bit surprised you. This,” he paused to gesture that he was talking about the rooftop, “or tricking Erica and Isaac?”

“Both.” Stiles snickered a little, running his fingers through his hair. “You’re really just full of so many surprises.”

Derek smiled, leaning his head a little into the touch. “I’m not exactly one for being an open book.” he said and brought his hand up to Stiles’ face, cupping it between his hands. “I’ll do my best to keep surprising you though.” he said before he kissed him.

Stiles kissed him back, slowly smiling against his mouth. He nodded a little as he pulled away and nuzzled their noses together. “I’d like that.” He said softly before he kissed him again.

Derek moved his hands down from Stiles’ face as they kissed again, pressing soft but urgent kisses to Stiles’ lips. His arms found their way around Stiles’ back, pulling Stiles closer so their chests were pressed together.

Stiles nipped lightly at Derek’s lip before running his tongue along it and slipping it into his mouth. He knew that he was going to never get tired of kissing Derek, especially since they always made him feel dizzy in the best way possible.

Derek hummed happily into Stiles’ mouth, sliding his tongue against Stiles’ as they each deepened the kiss. He kept his ears open for Isaac and Erica, but neither of them were close, still probably searching the warehouse below.

Stiles slowly couldn’t stop smiling as he stayed close to Derek, pulling away so he could kiss and nip lightly along his jaw. “Holy shit, I missed this so much.”

Derek let out a soft moan as he said, “You have no idea...” his voice trailing as he heard a high pitched buzzing straight before Stiles’ ringtone went off. “I swear to God whoever that is I’m going to murder them. Violently.”

Scott was the one calling, having just gotten done with Allison what Stiles and Derek had been hoping to. He’d not heard Jackson in the police transport for a while and when he went to check on him - bam, empty transport with every single one of the handcuffs broken. He’d swore profusely before calling Stiles, glancing anxiously and guiltily over at Allison as they waited. They were supposed to have been watching him.

Stiles groaned too, thinking the exact same thing as Derek. He soon looked down at the phone and he pulled away from Derek, turning away a little as he answered it. “What’s going on?” He asked, already figuring it was bad if he was calling him.

“Jackson’s missing, I don’t know here he went,” Scott spilled out quickly. “Allison and I looked away for like five minutes I swear and now he’s gone!”

Derek was listening to what Scott was saying and his frown deepened the longer Scott talked. “Jackson’s alive?” He said quietly.

“How in the hell - You know, most people would hear someone breaking out of a van. Most were-people anyways. Unless....Did I just get cockblocked because you were getting laid?” Stiles quickly groaned, rubbing his temple. “Okay, okay, I’ll be there in like ten minutes and we’ll figure out what the hell we need to do.”

“Cockblocked... Wait, _oh my God_ , I don’t want to know just... Okay, just get here.” Scott said and ended the call.

Derek stood silently, knowing if he said anything it wouldn’t be on the nice end of the spectrum. He looked at Stiles expectantly, waiting.

Stiles shook his head and put his phone away before he turned to Derek and smiled nervously. “Can you give me just a few hours, Derek? Then I’ll tell you everything you want to know.” He said softly, taking his hands in his.

“If you don’t call me or come back in a few hours I’m going to come find you,” Derek said, giving Stiles’ hands a tight squeeze.

“If I don’t call you or come back, I’m probably dead.” Stiles replied, gently bumping their noses together. “I can have you come over to my house? And we’ll talk and pick up where we left off. Deal?”

“Don’t say that,” Derek said with quiet anger. “The second you find him, if Scott’s not there to protect you - hell, even if he is - call me. I’m not losing you. Not ever.” Derek said and pressed a kiss to Stiles’ forehead.

“Bad choice of words, sorry.” He said softly, remembering what they had talked about in the car. “I’ll call you if I’m in trouble, don’t worry.” He smiled a little before pulling away. “I should probably go now though.” He mumbled, really, really not wanting to but he knew he had to.

“All right, just take the stairs and go around the building, it’ll be faster,” Derek said and gestured towards the stairs.

Stiles nodded and smiled a little at him before carefully headed back downstairs. He snuck out of the warehouse and to his Jeep before driving away from Derek’s to get to Scott as quickly but still safely as he could.

Derek went downstairs, finding Isaac first. “What’s going on? We found the coats, but Stiles just left?”

“The Kanima isn’t dead. Apparently Scott’s group had him locked up, but he’s escaped.” Derek answered. “Find Erica, I’m going to need both of you ready in case Stiles and the others need help.” Derek said and Isaac nodded, rushing into the mess of the warehouse to find where she’d been following the trail. Erica had gotten close to figuring out where Derek and Stiles had ventured off, but was really starting to figure that they did this so they could have some time to themselves.

Isaac found Erica easily enough, her scent wasn’t mixed with anyone else’s so it wasn’t as hard to sniff out. He got her attention before stopping next to her. “Derek said that the Kanima’s not dead. I guess Stiles got a call from Scott while they were hiding. He wants us to get ready in case we have to go help them.”

Erica almost groaned at that. Of course it wouldn’t be over that easily. “Alright, maybe we’ll find a way to actually kill it this time.”

“Clearly slashing its throat open wasn’t enough,” Isaac muttered, leading the way back through the mess of the main warehouse.

\---------------------------------------

“I can’t believe we let that happen,” Scott said, sitting in the back of the transport, looking at the broken cuffs in his hands.

“It’s okay, Scott.” Allison said softly, rubbing his back to help him feel better. “You guys thought that it was secure, you couldn’t have known that he was going to get through it.”

“I’ve broken through cuffs before myself - the first full moon I ever had. I should have known.” Scott said, tossing the shackles onto the floor. “We should get out of here as soon as Stiles gets here. Go looking for him before he hurts someone else.”

“I think I’m going to have to tell my dad when Stiles gets here.” She said with a sigh, really not wanting to but knew it would probably be best if she did. “He’s been killing people and he’d do it again.”

“I understand,” Scott said quietly. He didn’t like it any more than she sounded like she did. “He should be here soon I think.”


	18. Esquire

Stiles soon came up to the car and knocked on the window. He had seen the damage Jackson did by breaking out and knew this wasn’t good at all. He tried to think of what they were going to do, and none of the ideas were very appealing.

Scott climbed out of the back when he heard Stiles knocking on the window. “Allison’s going to tell her dad,” he said, hands tucking into the front pockets of his jeans. “We don’t have much choice at this point. We need the help.”

“I think that I’m gonna have to tell my dad too...” Stiles said softly, putting his hands in his pockets.

“How are you going to get him to believe all of it?” Allison asked, getting out of the car with Scott.  
“I really don’t know, but...I guess we’ll have to figure something out. Even if he thinks I’m insane.” Stiles sighed and scratched as his head. This was really going to piss off his dad, especially since so much was happening at once.

“Stiles doesn’t have to convince him of it,” Scott said, glancing over at Allison. “Not if I’m there.” He said, making his point by shifting his eyes for effect. “We should get out of here, the sooner we tell the sheriff the better. Same with your dad, Allison.”

Allison nodded at that and grabbed her keys. “I’ll let you know how it goes with my dad, just promise me you guys will be careful if you run into Jackson.”

“Yeah, it’s not just Jackson I’m worried about.” Stiles sighed a little, hoping that his dad wouldn’t actually kill him for all of the things they had to do to get this far.

“Hey, you be careful too, okay?” Scott said, catching her arm. “If you run into him, just call me, your dad - just don’t try and do anything on your own.” He said and looked down from her. “I probably don’t even have to tell you that, but I want you to be safe too.”

Allison nodded at that and kissed his cheek softly. “I’ll be careful. And I’ll try to see if I can find anything to translate the bestiary.”

Scott nodded and looked over at Stiles. “Let’s go, hopefully your dad’s at the station and we don’t have to wait for him.”

“Oh he is probably totally there right now.” He replied, thinking about how he had pulled him and Derek over. He motioned Scott to follow him to the Jeep, just going to leave the stolen van there for now.

Scott nodded, grabbing his backpack from Allison’s backseat, giving her a quick kiss before catching up with Stiles, climbing into the passenger seat. He tossed his backpack in the back, “I’m sorry about all this. I didn’t mean for it to happen.”

“You didn’t know.” He replied. “And besides, Derek clawing out his throat only knocked him out. You wouldn’t have been able to take him on in a real fight, so it’s good he escaped. Well, not good, but you know what I mean.” He replied, starting the Jeep up once he was in before he began following Allison down the dirt path. “So uh, probably the worst time, but we should probably have a talk.”

Scott nodded at Stiles attempt to make him feel better, which honestly just made him feel worse when it came to Jackson. But then Stiles said they needed to have a talk and he started to feel less guilty and more confused. “All right,” he said slowly, pulling his seatbelt over his chest as they followed behind Allison to the main road. “I guess technically we’ve got time to talk about whatever, until we get to the station. What’s up?”

“Yeah, we may as well while we have the time. In case my dad kills us for taking the transport van.” He stated before coughing a little as he tried to think of how he was going to talk about it. He needed to gently come out with it in a really easy to take way. “I, uh, so I slept with Derek.” He blurted out. Well that was the opposite of what he was wanting.

Scott nodded slowly, “I hate to break it to you, but you guys weren’t exactly subtle.” He said, and shifted his seatbelt around. “Not that I knew at all, but after the pool and the club I kind of figured something was going on.”

Stiles paused for a moment, that slowing his train of thought. “Well, okay, that makes this whole next part a lot easier. Derek and I are now...I think we’re officially dating?”

Scott nodded, clearing his throat. “That’s... How? He’s so... Derek.” Scott said, frowning. He, of course, had only been on the blunt end of Derek’s anger. He didn’t actually know him the way Stiles or even Erica and Isaac did.

“I don’t think you’d really believe me if I told you.” He said with a laugh. “But, yeah, at first glance he’s grumpy as fuck, has a bad attitude, and sasses the hell out of you, but you get past all of that and get him comfortable with you and he’s completely different. You know how you feel when you’re with Allison? Since you describe it to me in excruciating detail. That’s how I feel with him.”

Scott let out a small laugh, shaking his head. “Yeah, you’re right. I don’t believe it,” he said and looked over at Stiles. “If he makes you happy, I don’t really have any room to complain. Too much.”

“Don’t worry, just because we’re a thing doesn’t mean that I’m always going to take his side. I’m always going to have your back.” He grinned at him. “But just so you know, you owe me.”  
Scott laughed, “Yeah, I’m sorry. I’ll try not to let our scaled friend escape again and ruin.. Whatever you guys were doing.”

“And to think I could be having the world’s greatest make up sex right now.” He groaned, deciding that he was going to get back at Scott for telling him every detail of his own love life.

“I’ll promise not to talk about sex with Allison if you don’t say that again,” Scott said through laughter. “I really am sorry though man, find a way for me to make it up to you and I’ll do my best, all right?”

“We have a deal.” Stiles grinned at him. He was so thrilled that he had a boyfriend, even if they had to deal with all this supernatural crap. “I’ll think of something for you to do eventually.” He replied, turning down the street that would get them to the station the fastest. “Oh my god, actually, if you think the stories about Allison’s parents almost catching you guys is bad, my dad actually pulled us over tonight because someone called the cops for parking in their driveway, and then he thought that I was blowing Derek while he was driving. It was just a completely awkward situation.”

Scott burst out laughing, “Oh my God, I’m surprised your dad didn’t arrest him - and you.” He said, still laughing. “I guess that means he knows too? About Derek?”  
“I’m pretty shocked that he didn’t too.” He replied before he nodded. “Yeah, he knows about us.”  
Scott nodded, smiling. “I’m glad I was one of the first people you told. I know we haven’t been spending a lot of time together with everything that’s been going on and me being with Allison...” he said, letting his voice trail as they were getting close to the station and he didn’t have much of a point other than what he’d said.

Stiles smiled back at him and nodded again. “Well, yeah, I mean, who else am I gonna tell if I wouldn’t tell my best friend?” He soon pulled over and parked his car before he turned it off and sighed. “So we’re really gonna do this. We’re really going to tell him everything.” He was starting to feel really nervous, hoping that his dad would believe them.

“We have to,” Scott said with a weariness that definitely wasn’t typical of him. “I’ll be right there the whole time though, so you if you don’t feel like you can tell him, I can.” Scott said, looking over at his best friend. “We can do this.”

“Yeah, thanks. We totally can do this.” He tried to pump himself up a little before he took a deep breath and got out of the car so they could go into the station.

“Can you buzz us in? I need to see my dad.” He told the man up front, earning a nod before he opened the door for them. He did a quick run through of the things he was going to say before he turned the corner and saw Jackson sitting in his father’s office. “Uh.....” Well this was bad.  
Scott followed him in, looking at the man up front until he’d buzzed them in without argument. When they got to the sheriff’s office he had a feeling that the sight before them was the reason. Jackson was sitting there wearing a officer’s coat and clothes that Scott was sure weren’t his, as well as a man that Scott had never seen before and Stiles’ dad.

John looked up when he saw that Stiles and Scott were in the doorway and he uncrossed his arms, leaning away from the table to stand with his hands on his hips. “Stiles, Scott.. Perfect timing.” he said, gesturing behind him at the man. Jackson was giving them a gigantic smug smile. “This is Jackson’s father, Mr. David Whittemore... Esquire.” he said, turning back to look at them.

“That means lawyer,” Jackson said, still smug as could be.

Stiles knew right then and there that they were absolutely fucked. This is why he was right. This is why they should have probably killed Jackson. “Well, uh, good evening, Mr. Whittemore.” He replied, not sure what else he was supposed to say right now.

\---------------------------------

Lydia was sitting with Allison in her room having just finished translating the last of the archaic Latin for her. It was a boring text, beyond weird on the scale of weirdness that was her life, but she’d finished it in silence. The hope that Allison might actually talk with her afterwards spurring her to translate as fast as she could.

“There, that’s it,” she said, typing out the last word before crossing her arms over her chest. Allison’s phone went off then, drawing Lydia’s fiercest glare.

Allison furrowed her eyebrows at that, looking it over. “Wait a minute, Ms. Morell said that this word meant ‘friend’.” She said softly, pointing to where Lydia had translated that the Kanima was looking for a master. “So...Someone’s controlling him.”

She heard her phone go off and looked down at it before answering. “I found a translation for the bestiary. Were you able to find him?”

“Yeah, at the police station already talking to Stiles’ dad. Seems like our plan didn’t really go as planned. What about you? Did you tell your dad?” Scott asked, putting his phone on speaker and setting it on the table between him and Stiles. “Stiles is listening too.” He said, just making her aware of that.

Lydia sat patiently on Allison’s bed, wondering who this particular ‘him’ was. She didn’t ask, stretching out on Allison’s bed and tapping her fingers one by one against her necklace chain as she waited.

“No, he wasn’t home so I’m going to talk to him later. And what do you mean it didn’t go as planned?”

“Uh, we’ll get to that bridge later. So you found a translation?” Stiles asked.

“Yeah, about that. It says that the Kanima is searching for a master, not a friend.” Allison replied.

“Oh, great. And then there’s the fact that he doesn’t remember anything afterwards. What if it’s like what happened with Lydia in the hospital?” Stiles asked, leaning forwards and resting his arms on the desk.

“You mean like a fugue state?” She asked quietly, not wanting to really let Lydia know what they were talking about yet.

“Yeah,” Scott said. “He’d have to forget everything, the murders...” his voice trailed off, “getting rid of the blood too.” he finished.

Lydia sat up a little in Allison’s bed, squinting at the back of Allison’s head as she strained to try and hear what Allison was saying to Scott. Of course though, her attempt was fruitless. Quiet as Allison’s room was, sitting so far away and Allison talking so quietly, she couldn’t hear a thing. She rested her head back down, glaring at the ceiling.

“He definitely had help with one thing, the video.” Stiles piped up. “And someone else already helped him forget that.” As if they didn’t have enough problems right now, they apparently needed to find some crazy person going around killing people with a mutated lizard teenager.

“Whoever’s controlling him,” Scott said, looking up from the phone at Stiles. “And we have no idea who that is.”

“Are you sure he doesn’t remember any of this?” Allison asked with a sigh.

“No, he still thinks that he’s becoming a werewolf and that being with Lydia just delayed the whole thing somehow.” Stiles stated, shrugging and rolling his eyes as he tapped his fingers on the table for a moment.

“So do we try to convince him that he’s not?”

“If it helps us figure out who’s controlling him, then yeah,” Scott said, looking down at the phone.

“Do you think he’s going to talk to us after what we did?” She asked, thinking that he would probably avoid Stiles and Scott at all costs.

“Yeah, of course he’ll talk to us. I mean, come on, it’s us. What’s the worst he can do after tonight?” He asked, trying to stay hopeful.

Scott looked up at Stiles, raising an eyebrow. “Dude, his dad’s a lawyer and for all Jackson believes we’re the crazy ones who locked him up in a prison transport all day.” Scott said and looked back down at his phone. “We’ll figure something out, we always do. I think I hear Stiles’ dad coming back though, so I’ll call you later, okay?” He said, saying goodbye quickly before he hung up and pocketed his phone.

\---------------------------------

After the very awkward chew out that Scott and Stiles recieved from their parents, Stiles followed his father, putting his hands back in the pockets of his jacket. “I’m sorry, Dad.” He said softly, looking up at him for a moment before back down at the ground. 

“You’re damn right you’re sorry,” John said, shutting the door behind him. “I don’t know what the hell has gotten into you recently - most of it I’ve let go. This... this is far out of what I expected to come from this. I have to ground you, you know that right?”

“I figured as much.” Stiles replied, shrugging his shoulders a little as he leaned back against the doorway. He didn’t think he had been acting too strange towards his father lately, besides the whole suddenly dating an older man thing.

“What - what is this, do you even care about what you did? Does it bother you at all the laws you’ve broken, how badly this reflects on not just me, but yourself? This restraining order goes on your permanent record, you understand that right?” John asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

“You’re going straight home from here and you’re not allowed to go anywhere else aside from school. No friends over, no Derek and the only reason I’m bothering to even think about letting you keep your cell phone is because if you somehow manage to get yourself in deep enough crap it’s the only thing you have to reach me.” he said and looked at Stiles for a minute before sighing. “I love you, kid. I really do, but you gotta cool it on getting in trouble. At least until these murders get cleared up, can you do that?”

“I do care, Dad. I’m just angry at myself.” He stated before he groaned. “Okay, fine. I guess all of that is very fair, considering how much you really could ground me from.” He said softly. It wasn’t going to stop him from seeing Derek at all, but he could at least let his dad feel at ease by agreeing to it.

“Yeah, it is fair,” John said and looked up at Stiles. “Do me the favor of not making me have to be unfair in the future?” He asked, before sitting down behind his desk. “Tell Mr. Whittemore to come to my office, we’ll finish the paperwork in here.” He said, resting his arms on the armrests of his chair and rubbing at his forehead with one of his hands.

“Why do I have to do it? I’m pretty sure that guy is considering paying someone to take me behind a shed and beat me.” Stiles stated, knowing that he sure as Hell had enough money to do it.

“Because for once in your life, you’re going to do me this one favor. God knows you never listen to me the rest of the time...” John said, frowning over at Stiles.

Stiles nodded and took a deep breath before heading to Mr. Whittemore. “Excuse me, sir, but my father wanted to speak with you. I wanted to apologize too, I wasn’t thinking and we did something stupid. We didn’t mean to put your son at risk.” He said politely before he headed back into the hall to watch Scott and his mom talk. Scott turned to watch his mother walk off before sighing, running his hands over his head. “I am the worst son ever.” he muttered, walking over to Stiles and shoving his hands into his coat pockets.

“Well I’m not winning any prizes for Son of the Year either.” Stiles said softly, looking back at where his father and Mr. Whittemore were having a heated discussion about him. “Let’s just go home, we’ll figure out what to do in the morning.” He sighed, scratching at his buzzed head as he tried to stop thinking about just how wrong all of the stuff involving Jackson had gone today.

“Yeah, at least at school my mom can’t do anything about us hanging out,” Scott said, trying to look on the positive side of things. “I’ll see you tomorrow though,” he said and gave Stiles a quick pat on the shoulder before heading outside to meet his mom.

“Thank God for that at least. And we now have a translation for you know what.” He replied, waiting a few moments before he headed out to his Jeep. Once he shut the door of the car behind him, he pulled out his phone so that he could text Derek.


	19. Story Time And Ferrets

_‘Hey, if you’re not still training, can you come to my house? I’ll be there in like 10.’_

Derek had been showing Isaac and Erica a couple different moves - two defensive and two offensive that he was hoping they’d both learn to use when he got the message from Stiles. Isaac looked up at the sound, giving Erica the chance to hit him with a fist in the side of his jaw, sending him reeling back. Isaac grunted, rubbing at his jaw and shifting it around until it cracked into place and slowly started to feel better as it healed.

“Stiles?” he asked and Derek nodded. “The Kanima?” Isaac added, glancing over at Erica.

“No, I don’t think so.” Derek replied, grabbing his leather jacket as he got to his feet. “I’ll be back in a few hours. Get some rest, but keep your phones nearby. I’ll let you know if I need you.” He said even as he was opening the door, closing it behind himself as he typed out a reply. ‘On my way. Everything all right?’

_‘Uh, no, not really. Things are pretty bad right now, but I’m safe. So don’t worry about that part. Also, park somewhere where my dad won’t be able to see your car. Maybe the park, as much of a pain as it is.’_ Stiles texted him back before he tossed his phone onto the passenger’s seat and drove home. Once he parked and got into his house, he made himself something quick to eat before taking his sandwich and chips upstairs to his room so that he could unlock the window for Derek.

Derek sighed when he got to his car, pocketing his phone after he’d read Stiles message. He didn’t know what had happened, but he trusted that Stiles was actually okay. He slid into the driver’s seat, starting the engine and driving off in the direction of the park by Stiles’ house where Stiles had abandoned it after his ‘joy ride.’

He got there in about twenty minutes, having a much farther drive than Stiles. After he parked it took him a couple more minutes to get to Stiles’ house, having to wait at the edge of the yard as Stiles’ dad pulled into the driveway. He waited for the sheriff to get inside before making his way to the back of the porch. From the way it sounded though he went straight up to his room and to bed, telling Stiles goodnight through the door on his way.

He crept over to the window, tapping on it lightly before lifting it open from the outside.

Stiles looked towards his window when he heard the knock, smiling a little as he set his plate on his desk before he went over to Derek and moved his arms around his waist. “So, uh, we haven’t even been dating for a day and I’m already grounded from you.” He mumbled as he rolled his eyes before he rested his head against his chest and closed them.

Derek snorted lightly, “And you’re doing so well.” Derek said and wrapped his arms around Stiles’ shoulders. “What happened exactly?” he asked, pulling enough away that he could tilt Stiles’ face up to look at him.

“So after the whole clubbing thing, Scott and I may or may not have stolen a prison transport van and locked Jackson in the back.” Stiles stated, staring into his eyes as he spoke. “And we tried to explain everything before I left to come see you, but the little fucker escaped and went straight to his dad and my dad. So he now has a restraining order against Scott and I. Also his dad hates my guts, but that’s a different story.”

Derek nodded slowly, exhaling a sigh through his nose. “I guess I can’t complain too much since you didn’t get hurt,” he said, his jaw clenching. “We’ve got to figure out a way to fix this. Ripping his throat open didn’t work, clearly. I don’t know what else to try aside from a wolfsbane bullet and there aren’t a lot of those just lying around.”

Stiles nodded as he gently bumped his nose to Derek’s. “We’re going to try to figure out a way to talk to him again. We also figured out that he’s being controlled. We just don’t know by who yet, so that’s another bump in the road we need to get over.”

“I might have a guess as to who that may be...” Derek said, nudging his nose against Stiles’. “But I don’t know if there’s any way to confirm it.”

“Who are you thinking about?” He asked curiously, furrowing his eyebrows. “If you have a hunch, then we’ll try and look into it.”

“Gerard,” Derek said, breaking the hug so he could walk over to Stiles’ bed and sit down, resting his elbows on his knees. “Just before you and Scott went into the club I guess, I was going after it. I cornered it, but Chris and Gerard showed up. For a minute the Kanima was standing right in front of him, and the way he looked at it... He wasn’t afraid. It was like he knew that it wouldn’t hurt him.”

“Well. That’s totally not fucked up and freaky at all.” He said with a sigh as he went over to get his plate before sitting beside Derek. “Jesus, if you told me like a year ago that I would be dating a werewolf, chasing after a giant lizard, and being freaked out by hunters, I would have laughed in your face.”

“If someone told me a year ago I’d be back in Beacon Hills I’d have laughed.” Derek said, shaking his head. “We have to work together on this from now on. Not just me and you, but Scott and everyone else. If we keep fighting each other like this someone is going to get seriously hurt, more than likely by Jackson.”

“Scott’s actually surprisingly cool about us, so I think he’ll be a bit easier to work with. I really, really want to punch Jackson right now, ugh. Just saying his name is frustrating me.” He mumbled, taking Derek’s hand before he intertwined their fingers. “Even though most of your time back here has sucked, I’m glad you came back.” He smiled a little at him before he groaned a little. “Okay, I can’t talk about Jackson any more or I’m gonna end up hitting him with something the next time I see him. Do you like peanut butter?” He asked so he could change the subject.

Derek nodded slowly, not blaming Stiles for wanting to just forget what was going on if only for a little while. He frowned when Stiles asked the random question about peanut butter. “Yes...” He said, though it sounded more like a question than an answer.

Stiles slowly grinned at that before he passed him half of his sandwich. “Of course you like peanut butter.” He winked at him before he took a bite of his own half of it.

Derek narrowed his eyes at Stiles, accepting the half of the sandwich that was offered. He still side-eyed Stiles as he took a bite, finally looking away to look out the window. Through the clouds he could still see part of the moon, half full again already. “Isaac and Erica aren’t ready.” He said, half to himself.

“Do you need any help from me?” He asked curiously, moving his legs so he could put them on Derek’s lap. “And I mean actual help. But we can sneak off again one of these days and actually make out longer than just a few seconds. I’ll turn my phone off.”

“You helped Scott, which might be enough. It’d be nice if Scott could help too.” He said, and in his mind he added ‘it would be better if Laura were here.’ He rested his free hand over Stiles’ legs, taking another small bite of his sandwich half, chewing it and swallowing before he spoke again. “There’s this chest of restraints I have... left over from my family. I can use them if I have to, but they’re painful. It would be better if we didn’t have to lose a night to the full moon either.”

“Your family has a box of extreme BDSM equipment?” He asked curiously, raising his eyebrows a little. “And I thought that I had some skeletons in my closet.” He murmured before he began to actually think about Derek as a Dom. Well, that was certainly something he didn’t need to distract himself with right now.

Derek rolled his eyes. “They’re made to hold you during the full moon, if you’re unlucky enough to have to need one. My family never had much use for them.” Derek said and after eating another bite he continued. “I remember one year though, we had a visitor from another pack a few states over - I can’t remember who he was now, even what he looked like. It was his first full moon and he was supposed to have told us, but he didn’t.” He paused, tapping his thumb against Stiles’ legs.

“It took my mom, my uncle, and my dad to hold him down. Laura was a couple years younger than you are now, but she was the one to put him in the harness. He never stopped screaming, growling, fighting it the whole time. But it held, and that was the point. He didn’t hurt anyone.”

“So it’s kind of like those training collars for dogs, but much stronger.” Stiles said softly, cocking his head. “I kind of want to see them one of these days, just to see what they look like.” He smiled a little at him before he paused and cocked his head. “Hey, tell me a story about your parents. I mean, you don’t have to, but I just want to hear a happy memory you have of them."

Derek took a long while to think of one, finishing his sandwich half in the meantime. “It was summer, I was about four, not old enough to be in school yet.” Derek began, focusing his fidgeting hands on rubbing a bit of the loose material of Stiles’ jeans between his fingers. “My father wanted to get a portrait done of the whole family. Not a photo, an actual painting.” He clarified before he continued.

“My brother and I were stuck on the floor, my dad sat in a chair behind us next to Laura and my mom stood behind all of us in the center. It took about two months to finish, and every time we sat down to get more added my mom would say, ‘Whichever one of you behaves every day until this is finished can go on a hunting trip with your father.’ It was something that we rarely were able to do, so of course it became a sort of contest between all of us who could sit still the longest.”

He paused a small smile on his lips. “At the end of it, when we finally got the portrait and my dad was hanging it up in the living room, Laura finally asked who had won. I remember how confused my dad was because my mom apparently hadn’t told him about the little reward she had planned. When she told him, he rounded the three of us up and said, ‘All of you won.’“

“So it ended up being a whole family ordeal, all of us going out into the woods and hunting together. It was one of the only times we ever did that before my dad passed away.” He said and looked slowly over at Stiles. “That the kind of thing you were looking for?”

Stiles smiled widely as he listened to Derek tell his story, laughing a little every now and again. He really liked to hear more about Derek and his life, finding him completely fascinating. “Oh my god, that’s adorable.” He said softly, taking Derek’s hand before he kissed over the knuckles. “You were probably such a really cute kid...Actually, I have another question. So, when you were a little kid, or a pup, whatever you wanna call it...Were you the kind of pup that chewed up the furniture and peed on everything?” He asked, trying his best to not laugh as he spoke softly.

Derek rolled his eyes, shaking his head. “You’re just lucky I like you. If Cora...” he said his voice stopping short for a moment. “She wouldn’t have put up with it.” He finished after a minute, frowning. Like Derek, Cora had been much like their father. Fierce and strong like any Hale, but closed to anyone she didn’t know and quick-tempered to boot.

Stiles’ smile faded a little and he set his plate aside before gently pushing Derek onto his back so he could straddle his hips. “I’m sorry.” He said softly, stroking Derek’s cheek with one hand while he ran his fingers through his hair with the other. “I’m trying not to bring back horrible memories, but it’s hard when I’m so curious about you.” He said softly, leaning down to kiss him softly.

Derek kissed him back just as soft, breaking the kiss after a moment and clearing the small lump from his throat before it could grow any bigger and harder to breathe around. “They aren’t horrible memories, I don’t have many bad memories about my family. They’re just...” he trailed off, trying to think of the right word. Tainted was the word he finally come up with, but he didn’t say it. He reached his arms up around Stiles, holding him against his chest. “I don’t mind telling you about them, I think about them a lot. Especially Laura,” he murmured. “She had been the one trained to take my mother’s place. To be an alpha - I wasn’t. Everything I know I learned from watching my mom and her.”

Stiles brushed his lips to Derek’s temple as he listened, continuing to run his fingers through his hair so that he could try and comfort him. “You may not have been formally trained, but I’m still pretty proud of you.” He said softly, smiling a little at him. “You’re incredible, Derek. You know that right?”

Derek hummed shortly in response. “I like to think my family would be happy with what I’ve done... After everything that’s been thrown at me since I got back. Years of blaming myself have pretty much ruined my ability to think that’s actually true.” He admitted, resting his hands on Stiles’ back as he slipped his eyes closed.

“Well you know what? I’m on the outside of this deep, dark, werewolf brain of yours,” he started, gently tapping his forehead for emphasis, “so I say that you are one kickass, funny, sweet, caring, and thoughtful alpha.” He gently kissed his jaw and down his neck with each word before gently nipped at his collarbone after he tugged his shirt out of the way. “You’re also the sexiest alpha, okay? You’re a super talented artist, judging by your tattoos, you have the voice of a fucking God, and a hell of a lot of other fucking incredible things. All the things I’ve seen are probably only a tiny bit of the awesome things you can do. And no, I’m not just saying all of this because I’m pack mom.”

Derek sniggered lightly, hugging Stiles close and tight. It was when he said things like that - aside from the sexy bits - that really reminded him of Laura. She’d always tried to convince him he was worth something and for a while he believed her. Then she’d disappeared and it all had come crashing back into his mind as if it had never left. “You’re a lot more than ‘pack mom.’“ Derek said, mocking the name.

“To me anyway,” he added, sighing softly.

Stiles grinned and shrugged his shoulders. “I’m glad. I feel pretty damn special that Derek Hale of all people has the total hots for me.” He winked a little at him before he ran his tongue along the skin of his neck. “If I lick you, do you start to smell more like me?” He asked him curiously.  
“Smell more like your breath,” Derek said with a quiet chuckle. “There’s not many ways to make you smell more like someone,” Derek said and gently massaged his fingers into Stiles’ back. “Touching is the easiest and quickest method.”

“Well, damn. All this time I thought that I was marking my territory. So does sex make us smell like each other?” He asked curiously.

Derek chuckled, “I would think that would be obvious.” He said with a small grin.

“Is that why you like it so much? That and the fact that it’s pretty awesome sex?” Stiles grinned back at him.

Derek grinned fully now, laughing a little more under his breath. “I like being close to you. Getting laid is just the added benefit.”

Stiles couldn’t stop his own smile growing along with Derek’s. “I’m pretty sure that we have some make up sex that we should be having.”

“Hmm, how about I make you a deal?” Derek asked, liking the idea of having sex again, but also really not wanting to have to focus on being quiet. Or risk falling while trying to dive out of the window like the last time they were doing things in Stiles’ room that hadn’t even been sex related.

Stiles couldn’t help but groan a little at that. “Oh God. What’s the deal?” He asked him softly, resting their foreheads together.

Derek stifled his laughter, biting at his lip for a brief moment. “I’ll stay the night, completely this time, if you can keep it in your pants until tomorrow night. I’ll have Erica stay with her parents. Isaac can sleep over at Boyd’s or something.” He said and knowing Stiles was going to complain, he tacked on why.

“I don’t want to run the risk of your dad barging in because one or both of us got too loud. It’s a lot easier to enjoy things when you’re not having to split your attention on making sure you’re not going to invite the wrath of your boyfriend’s dad.”

Stiles let out another groaned and buried his face in his chest. “I guess I can manage waiting one more night. It’s really going to kill me deep inside, but I may be able to manage it.” He said softly, running his thumb lightly along Derek’s bottom lip. “And here I was going to suggest we sneak out to your car and make use of the backseat.” He buried his face in Derek’s chest, hiding his grin from him.

Derek resisted the very strong urge to take Stiles’ finger in his mouth, sighing between his teeth. “I don’t know what crazy world you live in, but that backseat is small. It wouldn’t be comfortable, trust me.” He said, nuzzling his nose against Stiles’ neck.

“Well damn.” He snickered, pulling his thumb away so that he could kiss him softly before pulling away again. “So, uh, this means we can at least make out before bed right?”

Derek chuckled, nodding. “Yeah, I think we could manage that.” He said with a smile.  
Stiles grinned at that and nodded, brushing their lips together before he climbed off of him. “I just have to change into pajamas first, then I’m yours for the night.”

“I’ll be here,” Derek said, turning so he was actually lying in be the right direction. He adjusted Stiles pillows so he had one too, folding his hands behind his head & watching Stiles.

“Are you sure you’ll be right there?” He asked with a light laugh, looking back at him with a raised eyebrow. He opened his drawers and began rummaging through them before holding up a very familiar blue and orange striped shirt. “Does this bring back any memories?” He asked as he grinned at him.

“God,” Derek said. “That was probably one of the most awkward days of my life.” He said, remembering all too well the ‘Cousin Miguel’ afternoon, as he’d come to refer to it. He’d been so pissed at Stiles that day.

Stiles snickered a little and put it away before he stripped down to his boxers and pulled on an old slightly worn Batman T-shirt. “I think you should get out of some of your clothes too. Just to get more comfortable.” He smiled at him as he got back on the bed.

“My jacket at least wouldn’t be a bad idea,” Derek said, having actually forgotten he was still wearing it. He sat up and pulled it off, slipping his shirt off over it leaving him with his jeans and socks on still. When he was done, he turned to lie on his side, looking over at Stiles and reaching out for him. “Come here, Batman.” Derek said with a laugh, teasing him  
Stiles turned his lights off besides the one on his end table before he looked back at Derek. 

“You’re gonna sleep in your jeans?” He asked with raised eyebrows but couldn’t help but snicker at the way Derek was reaching for him. “I’d make an awesome Batman.” He replied, moving to lay with him so he could move his arm loosely around Derek’s waist. “You’re actually kind of adorable.”

“I sleep in all of my clothes normally,” Derek said with a shrug. He nuzzled up closer to Stiles, resting their foreheads together. “It’s physically impossible for me to be adorable, y’know.” He said with a small smile, lightly trailing his fingers against Stiles’ back.

“There is something wrong with you.” He replied, staring into his eyes. “And nah, you’re adorable. See, besides the whole banana thing, you act like you’re a bad wolf dog sort of thing, but deep down you’re really just like a baby Chihuahua who really just wants cuddles. Also now I’m picturing you barking like one, so yeah.”

“Oh I see how it is,” Derek said with a laugh. “You can make dog jokes and compare my personality to a banana, but there’s something wrong with me because I sleep in my clothes.” He continued and shook his head, bumping his nose against Stiles’. “You’re the one with something wrong.”

“It sounds so bad when you say it like that.” He snickered as he bumped his nose back against him. “Would you like me to say that you remind me of a cat instead? Besides, your jeans are distracting. It feels weird against my leg.” He said softly, moving his leg around his waist.

Derek sighed heavily through his nose, “Y’know for someone complaining about my pants still being on your legs aren’t exactly helping that.” he said with a chuckle. “I’d ask if anyone’s ever told you you’re a terrible influence, but I feel like someone has.”

“I’m making myself comfortable around your weirdness.” Stiles grinned up at him before he shrugged a little. “We’re terrible influences on each other so I can live with that.”

Derek rolled his eyes, “I’m honestly starting to think I may be the lesser of two evils here.” He said, bringing his right hand up and brushing it against Stiles’ cheek, tracing his jaw line. “I’m surprised that with everything that’s happened tonight your dad didn’t ground you from more. Did he say how long you were grounded at least?”

“Uh....I’ll have to ask again in the morning.” He said softly, closing his eyes for a moment as he focused on Derek’s touch. “I think it’s because I do so well in school that he didn’t do more. That and because I almost never listen when I’m grounded.”

Derek smirked, “I can see that.” He said, drawing his fingers over to Stiles’ neck, his fingers brushing against his skin lightly as he traced the curves and dips of Stiles’ neck and shoulder. “Will you talk to Scott tomorrow? About what I said - us working together on this.”

Stiles whined a little and tucked his head under Derek’s chin. “I’ll talk to him in the morning while we figure more things out. And holy fuck, this feels really good. I’m pretty sure you can uh, use this as mind control.”

Derek hummed out a laugh. “I’ll have to remember that next time I want you to do something,” he said, ghosting his fingers to Stiles’ collarbone. “You think you could go to sleep while I do this?” He asked, wondering if Stiles’ pleasure was coming from a relaxed feeling or just the arousal of being pressed between being touched and not.

“Yeah, I think this will totally help me.” He murmured before he yawned a little. He closed his eyes as he began to slowly rub Derek’s back. “You should probably start falling asleep too. Y’know, I don’t think I’m going to get over how cuddly you really are.”

Derek hummed, relaxing at Stiles’ touch, “I’m not tired yet. Besides, it’s not often we get to do this. I want to enjoy it.” he said and pressed a kiss to Stiles’ head. “Adorable cuddly Derek doesn’t come out that often, you should know that better than anyone.”

Stiles slowly grinned at that and pulled away enough so that he could look at him. “Maybe I’ll have to stay up for a bit longer so that I can really enjoy it.”

“Or maybe you should go to sleep so you’re not dead on your feet at school tomorrow,” Derek said, peeking his eyes down at Stiles. “Then again I could see you weaseling your way into napping during class.”

“Exactly, everyone wins.” He snickered a little, lifting his hand to run his fingers through his hair before he kissed him softly.

Derek smiled against Stiles’ lips, letting out a breathy laugh through his nose. “That’s totally your nickname now.” he said, grinning down at Stiles. “Little weasel. Or maybe ferret or otter.”

“Oh are you kidding me? I’m a ferret?” He groaned, resting their foreheads together as he traced his tattoo. “I can probably live with otter, because otters are awesome.”

“Hmmm, nope. Ferret, that’s definitely it.” Derek said with a laugh, still laughing a little even after he’d said it. “Come on, you called me a baby Chihuahua earlier. Fair’s fair.”

“At least a ferret could probably kick a Chihuahua’s ass.” He snickered, grinning at him as he nuzzled their noses together. “God, I didn’t know you were such a brat.” He murmured.

Derek let out a chuckle. “There’s a lot of things you still don’t know about me,” Derek said with a smile, adjusting how he was laying and reaching his hand down so he could bring Stiles’ leg around him more. “Stick around long enough you might find out.”

“Oh, I am definitely going to stick around long enough to figure everything out.” He said softly, grinning up at him. “You know, I think it’s awesome how I ended up with a total hottie for a boyfriend. Because ugh, just looking at your chest makes me want to both punch you, and kiss, bite, and lick you all over it.” He stated, shaking his head a bit.

Derek shook his head, laughing. “I think if you punched me you’d just hurt yourself,” Derek said. “Besides that I think we both know the kissing and stuff is a lot more fun.”

“I’m gonna bite you so much tomorrow, you don’t even know. Also, if I’m not walking funny afterwards I will be very, very disappointed.” He snickered. “And oh God, yeah, I don’t know how I didn’t break my hand the last time I punched you.”

Derek laughed. “Most people definitely don’t think about how much it’s going to hurt their own hand when they punch someone,” he said with a small smile. “And I’ll definitely be sure to make you very happy tomorrow.”

“I think I would much rather punch a hole through a brick wall than get in a fist fight with you.” He mumbled as he raised his eyebrows before smiling widely. “As long as you’re happy too.”

“If experience stays true, then that shouldn’t be a problem,” he said and pecked a kiss to Stiles’ nose. “Now go to sleep, Ferret.”

“Oh my God, why is that one sticking?” He asked with a groan.

“Because you told me not to use it,” Derek said with a laugh.

“Then I guess I’m going to have to start using Dery-Beary again.” He grinned at him.

Derek rolled his eyes, “Not in public. Erica would never let me live that down.” He said, adjusting his pillow and closing his eyes.

“If you use ‘Ferret’ in public, I can’t make you any promises that I won’t keep.” He murmured before he closed his eyes again. “When I have to take a shower in the morning, do you want to come with? Or are you going to escape when you wake up?”

“I’ll stay until you leave for school, I made that promise I intend to keep it.” Derek said, kissing Stiles’ forehead. “Taking a shower together might depend on if your dad is still here when we wake up.”

“Why? Were you thinking of having a quickie of something in the shower?” He asked softly, starting to feel himself drifting off.

Derek hummed, “I’m not opposed to the idea.” He said quietly, smiling a little.

Stiles smiled a little at that and nodded. “Mmhmm...That would be nice. I have to go grocery shopping tomorrow after school but uh, is there anything I can pick up for you? We may as well have something to recharge us if we’re having a bang fest.”

“I don’t know of anything, but if I get any ideas I’ll text you.” He murmured, “I’ll have your drawing too. So there’s that.” He said, his tiredness slipping into his voice. He hadn’t really paid attention to it, but the longer he lie there the more sleepy he was getting.

“Mmmm. I’ll buy junk food then. It feels right to load up on junk after sex.” He mumbled, yawning lightly. “Y’know, I kind of wanna sleep on your chest. It sounds comfy. Unless you can’t sleep on your back.”

“I can sleep on my back,” Derek mumbled, stifling a yawn of his own. “Here,” he said, shifting around onto his back and lazily pulled at Stiles. He wasn’t awake enough anymore to actually pull Stiles on top of himself.

Stiles slowly moved to lay on Derek’s chest after he turned off the light. “Oh my God, why are you so comfy?” He asked softly, yawning as he closed his eyes again. “Stupid perfect wolf.” He mumbled.

Derek laughed, wrapping his arms around Stiles back and lacing his fingers together. “Go to sleep, little ferret.”

“Mmkay, that sounds very good....Dery-Beary.” He said softly, feeling himself drifting off again. Derek hummed, giving Stiles a gentle squeeze, kissing the top of his head. He unlaced his fingers, working them under Stiles shirt to massage his hands against Stiles’ back.

Stiles let out a low moan of content and mumbled something that was complete gibberish. He nuzzled his cheek against Derek’s chest for a few moments before he finally drifted off to sleep.


	20. Mourning Wood

Derek let out a short laugh through his nose, continuing to rub at Stiles’ back until eventually he woke up to the sound of Stiles’ alarm going off. He groaned, “What kind of alarm is that?” He mumbled, the song catchy a little, but too loud. He turned his head, pressing one of his ears against his pillow, but all that did was make it louder to his uncovered ear.

Stiles slept with his mouth open the whole time, unfortunately that meant that he drooled all over Derek’s chest and his own face. He snored a little as he slept before he groaned a little at the song. “Noooo.....five more minutes.” He mumbled, nuzzling his wet face against Derek’s soaked chest.

“Stiles,” Derek groaned, feeling the wetness on his chest after Stiles moved. “Oh my God, Stiles, get up.” He said wiping at his chest, grimacing at his hand and down at Stiles.

“Nnnnnnnnn.” He groaned again, hooking his arms under Derek’s so he could cuddle for a few more minutes.

Derek sighed through his nose, wiping his half-dried hand on Stiles’ face. “Stiles, you drooled _everywhere,_ ” he said, his voice half-whining.

Stiles groaned and moved at the feeling of Derek wiping it on him and slowly sat up. He blinked slowly, staring at Derek as he tried to wake up before he slowly grinned and wiped his hand on the drool on Derek’s chest before he wiped it on his boyfriend’s face. “Marking my territory.”

“I’m going to kill you.” Derek said lowly, narrowing his eyes at Stiles. He sat up as best he could with Stiles still on top of him, wiping at his chest and his face.

Stiles grinned sleepily, cupping Derek’s face in his hands before he kissed him softly. “No you won’t.” He stated after pulling away before he got to his feet and grabbed his phone. “Also, I’m dubbing this as one of our many songs.”

“What the hell is it anyway?”Derek asked, sitting up more and making sure he was completely drool free by way of using Stiles’ bed sheets.

“Wild Ones by Flo Rida and Sia. It’s totally my jam.” He smiled at him before he took his shirt off. 

“Time to take a shower, if you wanna actually take those jeans off.”

“I need one since you decided to drool on me all night,” Derek grumbled. “Give me a sec,” he said and held up a hand as he focused his hearing. He heard Stiles, the water in the pipes in the walls, the hum of the electricity, but nothing else. Stiles’ dad was already gone for work. He nodded as he lowered his hand, “Your dad doesn’t stay home much does he?” Derek asked, working off his socks before he stood up and started to work off his jeans.

“Well, because of me, he’s probably got a lot of work on his plate right now.” Stiles mumbled, feeling really badly again as he scratched at his head. He looked back at Derek and slowly smiled as he watched him get undressed. “God, I still can’t believe I get to wake up to someone like you.”

Derek laughed, “Try not to get used to it too much. Until things die down with the Kanima, the Argents.. I don’t know how often we’ll be able to get to do things like this,” he said, striding over to where Stiles was standing, resting his hands on Stiles’ hips.

“Yeah, I know but that just means that when it’s all over, we can keep sleeping over with each other.” Stiles smiled up at him as he moved his arms around his waist. “Especially during summer break when we don’t have I worry about me going to school.”

“Hmmm, that’s definitely something to look forward to,” Derek said with a smirk. He ducked his head forward, pressing his lips against Stiles’.

Stiles kissed him back and ran his fingers through Derek’s hair as he slowly deepened the kiss. He smiled a little and nipped lightly at his lip before he pulled away. “So we don’t have to worry about making a little noise in the shower?”

Derek followed Stiles’ mouth, sighing a little. “Might not want to go for screaming my name, but yeah. No worries.” He said with a laugh.

“Aw, damn. I’d absolutely love screaming your name. Also, I want you to really bite my neck and mark it, since we don’t have to really hide what we are as much as we used to.” He grinned up at him as he traced Derek’s jaw lightly. “You think you can make that happen?”

Derek laughed, “I can do that.” He said and nodded towards Stiles’ bathroom. “How much time do we have?” Derek asked, looking at Stiles.

Stiles thought about it and checked his phone. “I don’t have to leave for almost an hour.” He replied before tossing it onto his bed.

“Good,” Derek said. “We have some time then.” He said and nipped at Stiles’ nose.

“Yeah, and that’s only for if I wanna be early.” The teen grinned at him, pulling away from him so he could shimmy out of his boxers and kick them aside.

Derek hummed, “I think you can stand to be a little late.” He said, taking Stiles’ chin in his hand, tilting it upwards a little before pressing their lips together. He closed the distance between them, wrapping Stiles in his arms as he deepened the kiss, pressing their mouths together more urgently. Stiles grinned as he kissed him back, moving his arms around his shoulders so he could keep him close. He gently nipped at Derek’s bottom lip before running his tongue along it.  
Derek sighed against Stiles’ mouth, their noses bumping together as he pressed his tongue out against Stiles’. He slid his hands down Stiles’ back, gently grazing the skin. He worked his tongue into Stiles’ mouth, humming a little.

Stiles made a small noise of content against his mouth as he lowered a hand and lightly ran his nails over his back. He did it very lightly at first before he began to add more pressure each time. Derek moaned a little into Stiles’ mouth, having to break the kiss a moment. “Mmmm, bed?” He asked, resting his forehead against Stiles’.

Stiles couldn’t stop himself from laughing. “Bed first? Yeah, bed is good.” He traced his back softly before moving to bite down on his shoulder hard.

“Mmmm, hard to stand up in a shower,” Derek murmured. He bent at the knees a little when Stiles bit him, sighing out a strangled moan. “You’re evil.” He whispered, leaning his head to the side. Stiles slowly smirked and continued to bite over his shoulder and leave indents. Derek groaned, his boxers not exactly hiding his eagerness anymore. He did his best not to jostle Stiles as he backed himself towards the bed, falling back on it when the mattress caught the backs of his knees.

Stiles laughed as he pulled away, moving to climb onto Derek’s lap. “I love how excited you get when I do this to you.” He said softly, moving to the other side before he latched on.

Derek opened his mouth to retort, but just ended up moaning out Stiles’ name. He reached under Stiles’ legs, struggling a little to get his own boxers off. Stiles grinned before he lifted up a little so he could help Derek get them down. “I’m sorry, what was that? I couldn’t hear you over the sounds of you being my bitch.”

“I thought you were the bitch,” Derek said breathily as he worked his boxers off finally, having to jiggle his foot to kick them off completely. “That’s what you called yourself.”

“Well, considering the noises you’re making right now, I’m gonna have to say you’re currently the bitch.”

“Funny,” Derek said with a laugh. “You gonna keep sassing or are you going to let me fuck you?” He asked, grinning up at him.

Stiles felt his insides twist and his mind almost stopped working right for a moment. “Uh...Yeah, I’m totally gonna let you fuck me. That sounds really, yeah.” He slowly grinned, bending down so he could rest their foreheads together.

Derek laughed, “See, look at that. I haven’t even touched you yet and you’re babbling,” Derek said, flicking his eyes towards the bedside table. “You wanna...” He said, letting his voice trail.  
Stiles glanced back at the table, nodding before he climbed off of his lap. “Well, if I was totally hot and started talking about fucking you, you’d probably break too.” He pointed out, rummaging through his end table. “Also, look what I bought, due to a past conversation.” He slowly grinned at him as he pulled out a small bottle of cherry flavored lube and showed it to him.

Derek took the bottle from him frowning at it before raising an eyebrow up at Stiles. “This probably tastes like shit.” He said and flipped the cap of it open, squeezing a small dab onto the tip of his finger and tasting it. He shrugged, running his tongue along his teeth.

“Okay, that’s actually not bad.” He admitted, turning the bottle in his hands. “Though depending on what all you’re wanting this morning we might be better off saving it for tonight.”

Stiles dabbed a bit on Derek’s finger since it was already wet anyways and took it in his mouth before he sucked lightly at it. “Mmmm.” He nodded in approval before he pulled away. “We totally have to use this. Also, it’s the only lube I have. Maybe we can go to a sex shop one of these days and buy things for future reference.”

“Well if it’s all you have then we don’t have much choice,” he said, eyeing Stiles’ mouth. He brushed his hand against Stiles’ cheek. “Tell me, what do you want this morning?”

Stiles shrugged his shoulders again, smiling a bit wider as he stared into his eyes. “As long as I get fucked by you, I’m not too picky right now.”

Derek smiled, hanging his head for a second before looking back up at Stiles. “I’ll be sure and plan something special tonight then,” he said and leaned his head forward to kiss Stiles briefly. “Can I make a request for right now?”

“Of course you can make a request. If you ever get any ideas involving us, feel free to let me know the moment you think of them.” He murmured, kissing him again quickly after he spoke.

“I think it’d be really, _really_ hot if you were on top,” Derek said softly, biting at his lower lip was he waited for Stiles’ approval. He felt weird, too submissive, but he didn’t want Stiles to be uncomfortable. Even if he thought Stiles would be alright with it. He still felt bad about the first time they’d been together, being so caught up in the pleasure he couldn’t ask if things were okay. It wasn’t being a good Dom.

Stiles slowly smiled after at him, cocking his head as he ran his fingers through his hair. “As in riding you right?” He asked curiously as he shifted his hips down a bit so he could sit back and begin stroking Derek slowly. He really just wanted to make it hard for him to think straight. He ran his thumb along the head of his cock before he moved back down, humming lightly to himself in content.

“Mmhmm,” Derek managed. He sighed out a breath, resting his head back against the mattress. He tossed the bottle on the mattress near the pillows.

“Yeah, that’s something I can totally do.” He said softly, grinning a little at him. “So uh, do you need anything else before we start getting into this? We also need to talk more about your kinks one of these days so that we can try more things that would sound super awesome.”

“Nope, I’m good right now,” Derek said with a smile. “We’ll have to talk more about yours too. Once you figure more out.”

Stiles nodded, leaning down to kiss him softly as he began to move his hands slower. He slowly grinned against his mouth and nipped against his lip lightly before he kissed down his jaw and neck. Once he found a good spot again on his shoulder, he bit down.

Derek lifted his hips into Stiles’ touch, wanting him to go faster. He breathed heavily, wrapping his hands around Stiles’ waist and massaging them around to Stiles’ ass.

Stiles moved his hands slower when he moved his hips, snickering a little against his skin before he bit harder. He was curious to see how Derek would react again and bit just hard enough to draw a little bit of blood.

Derek let out a heavy sigh, groaning in agitation at Stiles purposely going slower. It transformed into a moan as Stiles bit down even harder. “Oh my God.” He said through his teeth, digging his fingertips into Stiles’ ass and dragging him forward.

Stiles moved a little beside the bite before he did it again. He was really enjoying getting Derek to sound like that, and so he was going to keep doing it until he drove Derek completely wild. He ran his tongue along the mark his teeth left before biting again.

Derek sucked in a breath between his teeth, sighing it back out. “Fuck,” he whispered, pressing his face against Stiles’ shoulder before letting it fall back. “Harder,” he said, reaching a hand up to rest on the back of Stiles’ neck. “Please.”

Stiles pulled away a little and looked back at Derek’s face. “Are you sure?” He asked curiously, not wanting to actually hurt him even though he was so much stronger than Stiles was.  


“Unless you don’t want to?” Derek said, raising an eyebrow up at Stiles. “You can’t hurt me, Stiles. Look at my shoulder already,” he said and glanced over at it himself. “I’m fine - its healed even now.”

Stiles glanced back at his shoulder and nodded before he kissed the healed skin softly. “Alright, alright, I was just making sure.” He smiled a little before he bit down hard, just like Derek wanted.  
“I understand,” he said, grunting when Stiles immediately bit down even harder than before. He closed his eyes tight, short gasping breaths sucking in and out through his teeth. “Fuck, perfect,” he moaned out, the pain coming from where Stiles bit down exactly what he was wanting. His fingers drug up Stiles’ back, his other hand still on Stiles’ neck.

Stiles smiled a little and was glad that he wasn’t hurting him. He bit a little harder before he pulled away and ran his tongue along it slowly. “Ready to fuck me?” He asked with a light laugh. “Or should I make you keep waiting? I wonder if I can get you off by just biting you.”

“Another day,” Derek sighed out, laughing a little. “But yeah, I’m ready.” He said and relocated the lube, hesitating, “Since you’ll be on top would you want to do the honors?” He asked.

Stiles nodded at that, taking it from him before he took a slow breath. He kissed Derek quickly before he popped it open and coated his fingers with it. He rubbed his fingers together to warm it a little before he lowered his hand and slowly pushed two of them into himself. He bit his lip and closed his eyes, letting out a sharp breath through his nose as he began to slowly move his fingers. “S-Still not as good as the real thing.” He said softly.

Derek ginned, gently taking the bottle from Stiles’ hand and putting some onto his fingers too, warming it before slicking himself up. “You have really sexy expressions when you’re touching yourself.” He murmured, leaning forward and pressing a kiss to Stiles’ neck.

“Oh, you haven’t seen anything yet.” He laughed lightly, tilting his head a bit to give him better access to his neck. “Maybe one of these days, I’ll make you some videos or something to entertain yourself when we can’t be near each other.”

Derek hummed, pressing a second and then a third kiss to Stiles neck before gently biting down. He didn’t bite down for long, licking at Stiles’ neck before biting at another spot, a little harder this time.

Stiles cursed under his breath and closed his eyes for a moment. “Fuck, Derek. I’m starting to realize why you like being bitten so much.” He said softly, pushing his fingers into himself deeper and causing him to groan before he pulled them out. “Okay, uh - fuck, I can’t not...I just need you in me now, yeah.” He mumbled, trying to get his thoughts together but was failing even more at this point.

He reached down to lightly grip the base of Derek’s erection and steady himself before he slowly lowered onto him with a low moan. “J-Jesus, fuck.” He breathed out, tilting his head back once he was seated on his lap.

Derek laughed, “All right, just - mmf,” he said, cutting off and biting his teeth into his lower lip as Stiles pressed himself down onto him. Suddenly his cock was warm and moist and being pressed against and he groaned out.

“Fucking hell, Stiles.” He managed, blinking a couple times before looking up at Stiles. He reached out to him, grabbing his thighs and rubbing them a few times.

Stiles laughed breathlessly, shifting a little as he placed his hands on his shoulders to keep himself steady. “Nice to see I’m not to only one that loses their ability to talk.” He winked at him before he began to slowly move above him. He cursed under his breath and closed his eyes, trying to focus on getting a steady pace.

Derek chuckled, grunting as Stiles began to move. He stretched his fingers out, scratching them a little into Stiles’ thighs before running his palms over the marks. He snaked his tongue between his lips, wetting them as he kept his gaze locked on Stiles’ face.

Stiles gasped and let out a moan as he canted his hips at the feeling of his nails on his skin. “Holy fuck.” He whispered, biting his lip for a moment and furrowing his eyebrows before he began to move faster once he was used to it. He bent down so he could bury his face in Derek’s chest, biting at him so he could muffle his moans a little.

Derek tilted his head back, groaning as Stiles bit his chest. He sat up carefully and slowly so as not to mess up Stiles rhythm, leaning his mouth down to Stiles’ neck. He propped himself up on his left arm, using the right to tilt Stiles head up, sucking at the skin under his lips and grazing his teeth there as he attempted to add upwards thrusts of his own to Stiles’ motions. Stiles gasped out and bucked his hips, losing his rhythm for a few moments as he cursed again. He let out a low whine and kissed him deeply to muffle his moans, lifting a hand to tangle in Derek’s hair so the he could keep him close. He lightly bit at his lip, smiling a bit wider as he dug his nails deep into his shoulder.

“Sorry,” Derek laughed out when Stiles lost his rhythm for a moment. He lost his tongue to Stiles’ mouth for a moment, still thrusting upwards as Stiles bit at his lip. He sucked in a sharp breath as Stiles pressed his nails hard into his shoulder. “Mmmm, fuck,” he forced out, ducking his lips down to Stiles’ neck. He growled lightly as he carefully rolled on the bed so Stiles was under him now. He bit down a little hard as he pressed his hips against Stiles, rotating them forward a few times.

Stiles laughed a little when Derek rolled them over, moving his legs around his waist loosely. He moved his arms around him and bit his lip again as he stared up into his eyes for a moment. He let out soft moans when Derek moved, lifting his hips a little before he tilted his head back. “Fuck...” He whispered as he closed his eyes, digging his nails deep into his back before he slowly dragged them down.

Derek didn’t let up on where he was biting Stiles’ neck, keeping the same pressure. He let out a little moan against Stiles’ neck, making his thrusts press down a little faster, a little harder. He reached his hand between them, wrapping his fingers around Stiles’ cock and sliding his fingers up and down, the loose skin over it moving with his hand’s movements.

Stiles cursed and bucked his hips up against Derek’s hand as he felt his insides twist. He moaned out Derek’s name as one of his hands dropped down to his bed so that he could grip the sheets tightly while the other moved up to the back of his neck. “J-Jesus, Derek...Y-You keep that up and I’m gonna - fuck...ing come.” He tried to get out between his moans.

“Be a good boy, just a little bit longer,” Derek said quietly to him after pulling his teeth away from Stiles’ neck. The imprint was clear as day and no one would miss it unless they were blind. He traced his tongue along the imprint, kissing the untouched center gently. He slowed his hand on Stiles’ cock, sitting up a little and gripping his free hand into the blankets, rocking his hips against Stiles. He was so close himself, but he wanted to stay like this just a few moments longer. Trying to make the most out of this moment - the fear of not actually being able to meet up tonight creeping into his mind. He pushed it back, focusing on Stiles’ face, the feel of him, his warmth and the sounds he made.

Stiles reached out so he could take Derek’s hand and lace their fingers together, stretching his other arm over his head before he gripped the sheet tightly. He nodded a little, whining in some protest as he tried to keep some control of himself. “Trying...It’s hard.” He whispered, tilting his head back as he rocked back against his hips. “You make it so hard...” He shifted a little and closed his eyes tightly, gripping Derek’s hand tighter.

“All right,” Derek sighed out, brushing his nose against Stiles’ bite mark before pulling back to press their lips together. “When you’re ready,” he breathed against his lips, pressing against him faster again. He moved his hand on Stiles’ cock faster too, resting their foreheads together.  


  


Stiles nodded quickly, lightly biting Derek’s lip when they kissed before he had to pull away. He moaned out Derek’s name when he came, throwing his head back as he moaned louder and bucked his hips to ride out his climax.

Derek grunted when Stiles bucked, keeping up his thrusts for just a few moments longer than Stiles had. His eyes snapped open as he came, moaning out as his eyes flashed bright red. He closed his eyes as he finished, huffing out heavy breaths as he held himself over Stiles, not moving an inch until he felt himself more in control of his body. He carefully pulled out, flopping onto the bed on his back, panting through his mouth. “Fucking Christ,” he breathed, reaching up to brush a hand through his hair.

Stiles bit his lip and shifted at the feeling of the loss of Derek, slowly rolling over so that he could curl up against him. “That was awesome.” He murmured through his heavy breathing, giving him a dazed smile as he traced his abs with the tip of his finger. “Now I really, really don’t want to go to school.”

“Hmmm, you have to go,” Derek said softly, eyes still closed as he wrapped his arm behind Stiles’ back. “I could drive you.” He offered, nuzzling his face into the space between Stiles’ head and the bed.

Stiles nodded at that, humming in content as he traced his side. “You could, but then I need to drive home after school.”

Derek hummed thoughtfully. “Point taken.” He said, not seeing a logistical way that he could do it and not have it be a pain in the ass. He caught Stiles’ hand and laced their fingers together, smirking. “You gonna take that shower still?” He asked, raising an eyebrow at him as he lifted his head to see Stiles’ face.

“Give me a minute to get the feeling back in my legs.” Stiles said with a light laugh. “But yeah, I’m gonna get in. You can come if you want, if you aren’t going to be a giant distraction.” He slowly grinned at him.

Derek laughed, “I think I can manage to make shower time, _shower time_ if you can manage not to be distracted just by me being there.” He teased, grinning back.

“Well, I can’t promise anything but I’ll do my best to not be distracted by your body.” Stiles replied, looking him over again before he cursed under his breath. “How much do you freaking work out?”

“At least an hour a day, if I can manage the time. Most days I just keep up Erica and Isaac’s training. Seems like no matter what I do, Boyd thinks he’s fine.” Derek said with a sigh and looked over at Stiles.

“Maybe after the full moon he’ll change his mind.” Stiles shrugged a little. “And maybe one of these days I’ll take some pointers from you so that I can actually bulk up a little.”

“Hmmm, if you want,” Derek said with a shrug. “How much time do we have left?” He asked lifting their entwined hands to his mouth to kiss Stiles’ fingers.

Stiles grinned when Derek kissed his fingers, moving to kiss him softly before reaching for the phone. “Uh, half an hour. Maybe I should just go about smelling like you and shower in gym.”

Derek laughed, “No objections here.” He said and while Stiles was still staring at his phone he sat up, giving Stiles’ ass a swift slap before getting off the bed to locate his clothes.

Stiles yelped a little at the slap and dropped his phone before looking back at Derek with wide eyes as he thought about things. “Uh....So how do you feel about spanking in the bedroom?”

Derek laughed, glancing over his shoulder at Stiles as he pulled his boxers on. “Not for myself, but if you like it I can work with that.” He said and grabbed his jeans, pulling them up after stepping into them.

Stiles nodded and got to his feet so he could go behind Derek and grab his butt as he moved to rest his chin on his shoulder. “That sounds really, really nice.”

Derek hummed, leaning back against him. “I almost wish that I could go with you to school.” He muttered, smiling.

“Last time I checked, you’ve walked into the school several times already with no one noticing.” He pointed out, kissing his neck. “If you get really bored, sneak in and I’ll see you during lunch.”

“Yes, but that was before the Argents were in charge of it.” Derek said, turning and facing Stiles. “I’ll see what I can do though, maybe I’ll get lucky.” He said and pressed a kiss to Stiles’ forehead. “You’ll text me if anything happens with Jackson?” He asked, stepping away so he could locate his shirt.

“True...” Stiles said softly, trying to think about it as he watched Derek finish getting dressed before he slowly got into his own clothes. “And yeah, of course I will. Maybe we can actually go out to lunch or something?”

“How long of a lunch break do they give you?” Derek asked, frowning. He pulled his shirt on over his head and located his jacket, pulling out his cigarettes and popping one between his lips. He didn’t light it, still waiting for Stiles’ answer.

“An hour.” Stiles replied, opening his window for Derek. “Just be careful not to make the fire alarm go off.” He smiled a little at him, going back to him before he kissed the side of his mouth.

“I’ll try,” Derek said with a laugh, sliding Stiles’ computer chair over to the window. “If I show up around lunchtime I don’t want Scott freaking out.” He said and leaned out the window a little, resting his arms on the sill after lighting his cigarette. He made sure to stretch out his smoking hand as far as was comfortable so the smoke wasn’t going to just get sucked back in through the window.

“Yeah, that would probably be bad. I’ll sneak out and meet you in the parking lot then. Or somewhere near it. Or we can meet up, since I just remembered the Argents covered every fucking inch of the school except for the locker rooms in cameras.” Stiles grumbled with a sigh. 

“Of course they did,” Derek sighed, shaking his head. He wasn’t at all surprised. It was a game to them and any way they could get the upper hand, they’d take it.

Stiles watched Derek smoke, waiting for him to take a drag before he cupped his face in his hands and kissed him. Guessing at what Stiles was wanting with the kiss, Derek exhaled the drag he’d taken into Stiles mouth. 

Stiles grinned a little and pulled away so he could exhale the smoke out through the window. “Have you ever gotten a piercing?” Derek shook his head at Stiles’ question. 

“I’ve never wanted one. Why do you ask?”

“Sometimes when I get bored, I think about you in different scenarios. It’s an ADHD thing, I don’t control them at all, they just sort of happen.” Stiles replied, gently bumping his nose to Derek’s as he stayed bent at his level.

Derek hummed, nodding as he took a drag and pulled Stiles down onto his lap. He hugged Stiles to his side, kissing him to shotgun him again. “I’m just still waiting for you to decide on your tattoo. I’ve ordered some stuff to do it already.”

Stiles grinned against his mouth, exhaling the smoke out again once he pulled away. “We’ll need black ink. I know that much already.” He said softly. “Actually, I think I’ve got just about all of it planned out.”

“Oh really?” Derek asked, raising his eyebrows over at Stiles. He took a drag from his cigarette and leaned towards the window, exhaling it out. “What is it?”

“Uh...” He cocked his head, trying to think of how he could come out with it. “It’s a secret.” He said softly as he rested their foreheads together.

Derek laughed, shaking his head. “I can’t give you a tattoo if I don’t know what it is.” He said, rubbing his hand across Stiles’ back. “But if you want to wait to tell me that’s okay.”

“It’ll sound so stupid when I say it out loud.” He mumbled, looking up into his eyes for a moment. “I’ll wait to tell you half, but uh, part of it, part of me kind of wants to maybe incorporate something like...A banner that says ‘Running with wolves’ because that’s basically my life story right now, and I was thinking of getting some honeysuckle flowers along the bottom of the banner, for my mom.”

Derek listened, carefully studying Stiles’ face as he heard Stiles’ idea. When he was finished, Derek pressed a gentle kiss to his lips. “That’s not stupid at all. I think it’s sweet.” He said, brushing their noses together. “It has meaning, you can’t go wrong with something like that.”

Stiles scrunched his face up for a moment before he smiled a little. “Yeah, I think it all will really come together. Especially with the other part.” He said softly, wondering if he should tell him yet.

“Which is...?” Derek asked, trailing off so Stiles could fill in the silence with the last part of the tattoo. “If you really don’t want to say, it’s okay. I just need to know what colors I’ll need for it.”

Stiles coughed a little, scratching at the back of his own neck as he looked out the window. “I was kind of sort of thinking of getting a triskele.” He said quickly.

Derek paused in lifting his cigarette to his lips, Stiles’ answer surprising him. He didn’t know what to say to that, his face pinching into a thoughtful scowl. He finally took a drag, exhaling it slowly. “Are you sure that’s what you want?” He asked carefully. He didn’t understand why Stiles wanted that of all things - the meaning behind it was important to Derek, it was a physical reminder of his family, what he was. The reason Stiles might want it... The thought scared him that Stiles cared about him that much already.

Stiles nodded slowly at that. “I’ve been thinking about it a lot. I built the rest of my tattoo idea around it. Since the club, I realized that it would be perfect. It would be the things that keep me balanced. Each part of the triskelion would represent things that are my kind of like my anchors? The things that keep me sane, really.” He said softly, taking Derek’s free hand so he could intertwine their fingers. “I don’t know if I’m going to get it right away, but I think those things are what I want my design to be.”

Derek nodded, tapping his ashes out the window, resting his wrist on the sill. “I’ll let you know when I get the inks in. It might take a bit, depending on when I get the chance to place the order.” He said quietly, resting his forehead against Stiles’ shoulder. He gave him a small squeeze. “You should get ready for school, if you don’t want to be late.”

“Yeah, that sounds good.” Stiles murmured, running his fingers through Derek’s hair as he closed his eyes for a few moments before he pulled away so he could tilt Derek’s chin up and kiss him softly. “Do you want to watch some movies tonight?” He asked as he climbed off of him so he could go through his backpack.

Derek hummed, lingering his fingers against Stiles’ before he was out of reach. “Sounds like a plan,” he said, turning the chair more towards the window, leaning forwards so his chin could rest on his arms. “I’ll just be glad for all this to be done.”

“What do you mean?” He asked curiously, making sure all of his homework and books were in his bag before he zipped it up and slung it over his shoulder. “Come down with me so we can get some breakfast.”

“Jackson, the Argents... I’m sick of feeling like I have to look over my shoulder every day.” Derek said and tossed his cigarette out the window when Stiles asked him to come with him for breakfast. He stood, grabbing his jacket and draped it over his arm.

Stiles took his hand when he was close enough, nodding as he interlocked their fingers. “Yeah, me too. At least we have each other.” He said with a shrug. “And hopefully it’ll all be over soon and things we’ll calm down.”

“If it doesn’t, I’m going to steal you away and we’ll take a road trip somewhere,” he said leaning over to press a kiss to Stiles’ temple. “Maybe I’ll show you New York.”

“Oh my God, yes, _please_. Can we do this anyways? Just like leave for two or three weeks in the summer and just go drive around? Oh my God, now you’re making me want this really badly. I hate you for even suggesting it.” He replied as he looked back at him.

Derek laughed, prodding Stiles’ side. “We’ll make plans when you finish school this year. Come on, I’m getting hungry since you mentioned food.” He said, smiling over at Stiles.

“I’m really hating you for suggesting an awesome road trip when I can’t go on one yet.” He replied, shaking his head as he lead the way to the kitchen. “So we don’t have the time to make a fancy breakfast, but I can try to figure out something quick.”

“It’ll give you time to figure out where all you want to go at least,” Derek said as he followed Stiles down the stairs. He sat his coat down in the living room before coming back to the kitchen and sitting on one of the barstools.

“New York.” He replied simply, looking back at him with a grin on his face. “So, do you like peanut butter because you just do, or does the wolf in you like it?”

Derek rolled his eyes, resting his forearms on the center island in front of him. “I just like it.” He said.

“Are you sure?” Stiles asked, opening his pantry so he could go through it. “Can you eat chocolate?”

“You’re never gonna stop making dog jokes are you?” Derek asked, shaking his head. “Of course I can eat chocolate.”

Stiles laughed and shook his head. “Of course not. Why would I ever stop?” He winked at him before looking back at the pantry. “Uh...The only thing coming to mind right now is making sandwiches.”

“Fine with me,” Derek said, shrugging. “It’s not the worst breakfast to have.”

“Well do you want a peanut butter and jelly, or Nutella? Also do you ever get strange, random urges? Like...” Stiles paused for a moment, taking the small jar of Nutella in his hand before he looked it over. “Like, I have the strangest urge to lick this off of your body.”

Derek burst out laughing, ducking his face down before looking back up, and covering his mouth with his hand for a second. “I’ll take the classic PB and J, but fuck Stiles.” He said, laughing again. “I just.. Wow.”

Stiles grinned when he heard Derek laugh, looking back at him as he leaned against the counter. “What? I’m a teenager, it’s a perfectly normal urge. See one moment I want to watch movies with you and dip fruit in it, and then the next I want to dip my fingers in it and suck it off of your skin.”

“Sorry, I’m not laughing at you,” he said, shaking his head as he grinned. “You just caught me off guard with that.”

Stiles snickered and grabbed the bread and two knives so he could prepare their sandwiches. “Good. I love catching you off guard. Keeps you on your toes.”

Derek let out a short huff, “I’m always on my toes.” He said defensively, giving Stiles a little smirk.

“Can wolves tip-toe?” Stiles asked teasingly, putting two sandwiches on a plate before he slid it over to him.

Derek grabbed the plate as Stiles slid it over, bringing it in front of him. “Not actual wolves, that I’m aware of...” he said and took a bite out of the top sandwich before waving it in Stiles’’ direction. “Y’know,” he started, chewing a bit more and swallowing before he kept talking. “I should be surprised with how wrong your research turns out to be. Then again, your best friend’s a werewolf, your boyfriend’s a werewolf, your best friend’s girlfriend is a werewolf hunter...” he trailed after he’d counted those out on his free hand, watching Stiles as he took another bite of his sandwich.

Stiles found himself grinning when Derek said the word ‘boyfriend’ again, really loving to hear that word come out of his mouth. “I don’t know about that. I’m actually doing well so far. I just like using everything to make fun of you. If I didn’t sass the hell out of you, who would?”

Derek just rolled his eyes, not bothering to list off Isaac and Erica as culprits of sass. “If you ever have any actual questions, I can help,” Derek said. “Until then I guess I’ll just have to develop a ‘sass-filter’ if that’s possible.”

“Hey, you know what? I deserve the chance to sass people when it comes to research.” He said with a laugh. “I’m probably the smartest when it comes to this stuff with the whole monster thing because when I told Scott and Allison about the Bestiary, they thought that I was really meaning bestiality.”

Derek snorted, nearly inhaling a bite of his sandwich. He managed to swallow it instead of choking on it though. “Not defending them at all, because... Wow, but it’s pronounced best-i-ary. Not beast-i-ary. At least, that’s how my family always pronounced it.” He said, clearing his throat a couple times after.

“Oh well, _excuse_ me.” Stiles snickered before snorting. “I find it a lot easier to remember when I think beasts. Since you know, that what it’s filled with. Kind of like saying how you’re the beast in bed, instead of the best in bed, because you’re technically a beast once a month.” He winked at him.

“I’m a beast whenever I want,” he said and glanced up at Stiles. “I can show you sometime.” He said with a small smirk. “If you want.”

“Oh my God.” Stiles groaned, tilting his head back as he rested his hands on the counter. “I’m going to be thinking about that all day and if I pop a boner in class I’m gonna be so pissed.”

Derek laughed, smiling. “I hope not, ‘cause that actually would be bestiality. I think.” He said, quirking up an eyebrow as he took a bite of his sandwich.

Stiles groaned a little at that, bending down and letting his forehead drop onto the counter. “I hate you so much.”

Derek smiled wider. “No, you don’t.” He said and sat down his half a sandwich, walking around the island and wrapping his arms around Stiles’ waist. “You really don’t.”

“Yeah, you’re right.” He snickered, turning so he could move his arms around Derek’s neck. “I’m too into you to dislike you even a little.” He said softly, bumping their noses together.

Derek grinned at him and pecked a kiss to the tip of Stiles’ nose. “And I’m too into you for the dog jokes to bother me _that_ badly.” He said and laughed. “That doesn’t mean go crazy with it though.”

Stiles grinned and shrugged his shoulders. “That doesn’t mean lessen it either.” He said softly, running his fingers through his hair. “Can I see you shift?” He asked curiously. “Also, have I ever made your emotions so crazy that it was hard not to shift?”

Derek opened his mouth and the immediately closed it, raising an eyebrow. He was definitely going to have to get used to Stiles’ scattered train of thought. “If you really want to, and no. Not so far as that.” Derek tilted his head back. “What form?” He asked.

“What do you mean what form?” Stiles asked, raising his eyebrows as he stared at Derek.

“Well, there’s two. One you’ve seen, one you haven’t. Three if you count my Alpha form.” He said with a half-shrug. “The one you haven’t seen is the one I mentioned earlier. It’s something Laura taught me, and my mom taught her. We’re the only ones I know who could do it.”

Stiles had to take a minute to think about what he had said and furrowed his eyebrows. “Wait a minute, you mean you can turn into an actual wolf too? What in the ever loving fuck? Oh my god.” He groaned, burying his face in Derek’s neck. “Stop being awesome. Stop it.”

Derek laughed, wrapping his arms more around Stiles’ back. “It’s not like I’m saying this to show off. You asked.” He said softly.

“I know, but still. For fuck sake, could you be any cooler?” He asked before pausing. “Don’t answer that.”

Derek laughed, lightly bumping their foreheads together. “Make yourself breakfast. Or take this other sandwich, I don’t need two.” He said and gestured at his plate.

“I can eat on the way.” He smiled at him, running his fingers through his hair. “So, uh, can I see you shift? Like normal one that everyone else can do. We’ll save the other for another day.”

“Like, right now?” Derek asked, leaning his head a little into Stiles’ touch. He really wanted to just keep Stiles with him all day, and he could probably easily talk Stiles into it, but he knew he shouldn’t. “It’s not exactly pretty to see, Stiles.”

“Yeah, right now.” He said softly, lowering his hand enough so he could run the back of his fingers against his cheek. “If you do so, the moment I’m done being grounded, I’ll take a day off and we’ll spend all day and night together.”

Derek sighed, “That’s a bribe, but all right.” He said and closed his eyes taking a breath. It took a minute before the shift started - knowing that Stiles was watching him made the whole thing a little weirder. When he was done he slowly opened his eyes, everything tinted just ever so slightly in red. It wouldn’t have been noticeable if it weren’t for the fact that the tan table now looked browner.

Stiles watched Derek change, feeling his heart pick up in pace a little. He cupped Derek’s face in his hands as he looked him over and ran his thumb along his lip so he could tug it down just a little and look at his fangs. “Mmmm.” He slowly smiled, looking back up into Derek’s eyes. “This just in, you’re still kind of cute.”

Derek looked down, smirking around his fangs. “If you say so.”

“Okay, that’s a lie. You’re still hot and I am very attracted to you right now, when I probably shouldn’t be.” Stiles stated.

“No, you shouldn’t.” Derek said and took a minute to shift back. When he was finished, the only thing that lingered was his red eyes, which faded away last. “Thank you though.”

“You know, when you have your eyes all red, it’s really, _really_ fucking hot. Like if we had the time, we would totally fuck on this counter. Or, maybe not, because you know, people eat here, but yeah.”

Derek laughed, shaking his head. “Yeah, not enough time and definitely not where people eat.” He said with a grin.

“Oh my God, I want to uh, play Messy Twister with you. Let’s do that tonight.” Stiles grinned up at him before he realized how random that sounded. “Okay, I should probably explain that. I was thinking about you fucking me on your tables or something, then that led to me remembering you’re an artist, and then that led to us covering each other in paint and fucking on a Twister mat. And I should _probably _take my medicine.”__

__Derek couldn’t stop laughing for a minute shaking his head before tussling what little hair Stiles had. “Go, I’ll be down here with my sandwich.”_ _

__Stiles laughed a little, resting his chin on Derek’s shoulder for a moment before he pulled away. “So uh, thanks for staying patient with me and my mind.” He smiled at him before he kissed his jaw and pulled away. Derek snuck in a quick kiss on Stiles’ cheek before he’d dashed upstairs to grab his bottle of pills from the bathroom. While he was gone, Derek located the box of sandwich bags and put the uneaten one in it for Stiles, munching on what was left of the one he’d been eating before._ _

__Stiles soon came back down, grabbing a Coke from the fridge before he opened it and took his medicine. “Also, for future reference, if I ever forget my medicine when I sleep over at your place, you should keep at least one energy drink on hand for me. I’ll probably stock you up on them, just in case.”_ _

__“I’ll just try and remember to make sure you have it,” Derek said and rubbed his hands over the plate to get rid of any crumbs that were sticking to his palms. He wiped at his mouth too. “Would your neighbors tell your dad if I walked you out?” He asked, crossing his arms and resting them on the island._ _

__“I’m bringing over energy drinks just in case. Also for if I take too much and it gets me hyper again.” He said softly, kissing his nose once he was close to him. “And uh....Probably not. Hopefully not.”_ _

__Derek laughed, “If they do, it’s not like your dad will be surprised I guess?” He said with a raised eyebrow. “You’ve got a bad thing with him, it seems like.”_ _

__“What do you mean?” He asked curiously before he noticed Derek had packed the sandwich for him. “Oh my God, you’re cute.”_ _

__“I mean you two don’t really seem to get along, from what I’ve seen. Which I get is partially because of the whole werewolf thing, but... I don’t know, I’m probably out of line saying anything at all.” He said quietly._ _

__“Well...It’s not that. It’s just lately, I’ve been uh...fucking his life up.” Stiles admitted, scratching at his head. “With all this werewolf and Kanima stuff, I’ve just been making everything harder on him. I mean, especially last night. We’re normally really close, but right now...I’m just fucking his life up again.” He said softly, feeling dull pains in his chest again and a small lump in his throat as he felt past insecurities come back._ _

__“Hey, no, no, stop that.” Derek said, stepping over to Stiles and pulling him against his chest, holding him close. “It’s okay, it’s not like you’re trying to on purpose. Shit happens.” He said._ _

__Stiles slowly moved his arms around Derek’s waist, burying his face in his neck as he began to tighten his grip on him. “Yeah, but the ideas I come up with make everything worse.”_ _

__“I’m here, I’m going to be helping now. I don’t know how well I can, but I’m going to do everything I can, okay?” Derek rubbed his hands along Stiles’ shoulders._ _

__“Yeah.” Stiles said softly before coughing a little to clear his throat. “Hey, uh....I want to show you something, before I go to school. You’ve shared a lot of personal stuff with me, so...I should do the same.”_ _

__“Yeah, that’s fine. I just... I didn’t mean to drag shit up, I’m sorry,” he said, squeezing Stiles against him a little tighter for a moment._ _

__“No, no, it’s okay.” He said softly, hugging him just as tightly before he pulled away and motioned for him to follow him upstairs to his room. Derek nodded when Stiles told him he was okay; not pointing out the fact that he could smell his anxiety still there. He waited in the doorway with crossed arms while Stiles thought about something. He didn’t want Stiles to feel obligated to share since Derek had, but he also wanted to learn more about Stiles._ _

__Stiles looked conflicted about things for a moment when he got to his room before he opened the drawer of his end table and rummaged through it for a moment._ _

__He swallowed hard when he found what he was looking for and pulled out an old photograph before he held it out to Derek. In the picture was a young Stiles, just barely nine, and he was fast asleep against a woman’s chest. Dark brown locks of long hair framed her ashen face and nearly hid it completely, but she had a fond, yet exhausted smile on her face as she held Stiles in her arms. Underneath a red cardigan, she wore a hospital gown, along with a hospital bracelet and an IV in one of her hands._ _

__“This uh...This was the last picture I ever got with my mom.” He said quietly, keeping his gaze down._ _

__Derek uncrossed his arms and took the picture from Stiles, holding it gently in his hands. He could see the resemblance immediately, the same dark hair, the same angular nose; this had to be Stiles’ mom._ _

__“She was a beautiful woman,” he said carefully, glancing up at Stiles. He held the photo back out to him, feeling oddly like it was something he wasn’t supposed to look at. Or at least hold longer than necessary._ _

__Stiles nodded as he took the picture back so that he could put it away to keep it safe. He felt the lump in his throat grow again and he felt like his stomach was slowly tying itself into knots. He had to grip the end table for a moment before he forced himself to breathe and slowly relax again. Derek hesitantly reached out for Stiles as he tried to compose himself. He seemed to be better a little before Derek had even touched him though, so he let his hand fall back to his side._ _

__“It was taken...Uh...It was taken the night before she died.” Stiles finally softly, turning back to Derek and stepping closer to him. He knew that now that he was talking about it, he wasn’t going to be able to stop himself. He knew he was going to be a little late to school if he started crying, but at the moment he didn’t care. Derek deserved to know something big about him. “I was with her. When she died.” Derek’s eyebrows knitted together and he covered both sides of Stiles’ hand with his own when Stiles took his hand._ _

__“I didn’t know...” He said quietly, rubbing the back of Stiles’ hand. He didn’t want to say he was sorry, the stupid platitude he’d grown to loathe any time someone found out about his own loss._ _

__Stiles coughed lightly to clear the lump in his throat, blinking hard to make sure that he could hold everything in, just in case. He glanced up at Derek for a moment, forcing a small smile. “There’s no way you could’ve known.” He said softly before sighing and looking away again._ _

__“There was a...There was an accident. Dad couldn’t leave work, and so I uh...I was at the hospital alone. She was reading me my favorite book. Where the Wild Things Are. She and my dad used to always joke that I was kind of like Max. Fuck, I remember that she had made me this pajama set when I was really little, and it was just like his. Had wolf ears and everything.” He had to take a moment to stop talking, closing his eyes tightly again as he felt himself starting to shake._ _

__“And uh, so we were reading, and when she was done reading, she was getting really tired and needed to just rest for a little bit. I remember, we kept talking and I told her about school, and Lydia, and how I was going to stay at Scott’s that weekend and have a really cool sleepover. And it got quiet for a minute, and she uh…” He trailed off, worrying at his bottom lip with his teeth. “She told me that she loved me, that she was proud of me, and that I needed to tell my dad that she loved him more than anything in the world, and that everything would be okay. I remember asking her why she wouldn’t tell Dad that herself, and that I loved her too. After that...It’s all...It’s all a blur. I remember the loud beeping, the doctors rushing in, and then Mrs. McCall’s trying to talk to me and my dad’s arms around me the next moment. I didn’t understand. I didn’t want to understand.” He closed his eyes tightly, feeling his eyes glaze over again as he tried to stop himself from falling apart, but he couldn’t stop it. He wiped at his eyes when he started to cry, hating that he was doing this in front of Derek._ _

__“I didn’t see her again until the funeral. I kept asking, and asking everyone about my mom before it but...They just kept saying she wasn’t coming home and that she was gone. I wouldn’t accept it. And then...Then I saw her laying there. And....And I had my first panic attack.”_ _

__Derek just kept rubbing his hands against Stiles’ as he spoke, a frown crossing his features the further into the story Stiles got. He stepped over to the bed, leading Stiles with him and pulling him down to sit on his lap. He rested his forehead on Stiles’ shoulder. He couldn’t find any words to say that would be appropriate, that could be comforting enough to help Stiles feel better about his mom. He was sure that Stiles being with her had probably made her final moments easier for her, but what comfort would that be to Stiles?_ _

__With nothing in his mind sounding right to say, he just sat there and gently rubbed his hand along Stiles’ back._ _

__Stiles buried his face in Derek’s jacket, moving his arms tightly around him as he finally let himself break down. Once he allowed himself to let go, he couldn’t stop the heaving sobs that slowly made his ribs start to hurt from the force that they came out with. He gripped Derek’s jacket tightly, keeping his eyes closer tightly. He soon tried to cover his mouth, trying to muffle the sounds that came out as his throat tightened._ _

__The more he cried, the more he hurt, but he couldn’t stop himself. He never talked about his mother’s death in that much detail with anyone, even the nice therapist he had gone to when he was a kid, but with Derek it just all seemed to come pouring out._ _

__Stiles slowly started to calm himself down, remembering that he needed to go to school. That he needed to look normal, like everything was okay. He couldn’t go to school with swollen eyes and a tear stained face. Not like he had in elementary school when he had finally gone back for the first time after the funeral. Not like he had when he realized that he would never get to go home and play games with his mom, or have her read to him ever again._ _

__Derek gripped Stiles just as tightly as Stiles was gripping him. He tried to numb himself to Stiles’ sobs, but they wracked through him as much as they did Stiles. He rocked him back and forth, murmuring random phrases of comfort._ _

__“It’s okay, I got you,” Derek repeated, over and over like a prayer. “I’m right here.”_ _


	21. Half-Day

Stiles slowly calmed down, Derek’s presence comforting him so much. He slowly reduced his sobs to sniffles and light hiccups, closing his eyes as he rocked with him. His grip on Derek’s shoulder slowly lessened as he slowly relaxed and listened to Derek’s breathing to help soothe him. He didn’t want to leave Derek’s arms at all and wished that he could just stay in them for the rest of the day.

“Stay with me,” Derek whispered once Stiles had calmed down a little. “Don’t go to school, just take the day. I don’t care what your dad says, I’ll talk to him myself if he says anything. I’ll take you to pick up your school work or you can have Scott drop it off - I don’t care. Just don’t leave like this.”

“I don’t know if I can stay.” Stiles replied softly, his voice a little hoarse from crying. “I’ve got a lot of important stuff to do and I can’t just...stay home because I did something stupid like this.” He sniffled as he rubbed his eyes to wipe away the last of his tears as he held him a bit tighter with his other arm.

“Stiles, no. This isn’t something that you should ever think of as stupid. You can stay home,” Derek said and leaned his face against Stiles’ shoulder. “But if you do go, at least wait until you’re feeling completely better.”

Stiles groaned a little and buried his face in Derek’s chest again. “Ugh. I don’t think I’ve really cried like that in a long, long time. Especially in front of anyone.”

Derek nodded, brushing his fingers against Stiles hair. “It’s okay, it happens to everyone at some point.” He said and then shrugged a little. “Well, normal people.”

“I want to stay with you, I really do.” Stiles said softly, pulling away a little so he could sit back and wiped at his face. “I, uh...I’m sorry you had to see that.”

Derek shook his head, kissing Stiles’ forehead when Stiles finished wiping at his eyes. “You don’t have to apologize. Certainly never for that.” He said and brushed his fingers against Stiles’ cheek. “Is there anything I can do?”

Stiles shook his head, smiling a little at him. “Just keep doing what you’re doing. It’s really helping.” He said softly, placing his hand on top of Derek’s.

Derek smiled softly, leaning his head back against Stiles’ shoulder. “Good.” He said quietly, “Because I much prefer hearing you laugh.”

Stiles slowly smiled wider at that and felt his heart beat a little faster. He kissed his head softly, rubbing his back gently as he hummed in content. “Me too, and I can say the same about you.” He said softly. He was slowly realizing just how hard he was actually falling for Derek, and he felt like he should be frightened by it, but he didn’t feel anything like that at all. He just felt really happy and lucky to even have a boyfriend like Derek. “What if I started making mix CDs? Would you listen to them?”

“I suppose if you wanted me to?” Derek said questioningly, lifting his head up to quirk an eyebrow at him.

Stiles smiled at that and nodded as he rested their foreheads together. “I think it would be fun.” He said softly as he rubbed his back. “So, uh, thanks. For all of this.” He added as he motioned between the two of them.

“I’m just glad you shared with me, you didn’t have to.” Derek murmured, brushing their noses together.

“Count us as even for now.” Stiles murmured softly, smiling a little as he sniffled and stared into his eyes. “Ugh, just uh, thanks again. For literally being my shoulder to cry on. I’m going to try to not make a habit of it.”

“If you’ve learned anything about me, I’ll always come when you call. So if you need me, tell me. I don’t mind if it means you’ll be okay.” He said and moved his hand from Stiles’ cheek so he could boop his nose. “Are you? Okay, I mean.”

Stiles crossed his eyes when Derek booped his nose, laughing a little at that. “Uh, I’m not at a hundred percent, but I’m doing better.” He said softly before he slowly grinned. “If I howled would you hear it?”

Derek laughed, “Probably not. The pack howl doesn’t really work for humans.” Derek said. “Though I think you could howl a lot better than Scott’s first attempt.”

“Does it work for humans with access to megaphones?” Stiles asked with a smile before he started to laugh. “Oh God, I wish I recorded that. It sounded like a dying cat.”

Derek laughed, “I think dying cats sound even better than he did.” He said, shaking his head. “But I don’t know, I’ve never tested it.”

Stiles nodded, running his fingers through Derek’s hair for a moment before he slowly grinned at him. “Aaa-oooooooo....” He howled lightly.

Derek laughed silently, shaking his head. “Definitely better than Scott. Though if you were seriously trying to howl for me you’d have to be louder.”

“Well no shit.” Stiles laughed at that, gently bumping their foreheads together. “That was my ‘I’m probably mocking my boyfriend’ howl.”

Derek rolled his eyes, “I’m dating a dork.” He mumbled with a smile. “A cute, sexy dork.”

“Oh, so I’m sexy?” Stiles grinned at him before he forced himself to get off of his lap. “Ugh, I better get going to school before I change my mind and go home with you for the day. Or week...Maybe even a year.”

Derek sighed, hanging his head for a second before nodding. “Yeah, I guess you have to.” Derek said and got to his feet. “I’ll walk you out and then head home. Am I still meeting you for lunch then?”

Stiles nodded at that and stepped closer to Derek before he cupped his face in his hands and kissed him quickly. “Yeah...Oh my God, when we go out to lunch, we should pick up something quick to eat and go to a sex shop. That sounds like a very fun thing to do.” He snickered lightly. “We’ll just pop in and out really fast....That’s what she said.”

Derek rolled his eyes. “I don’t even know if there is a shop like that in Beacon Hills.” He said with a sigh. “But I guess I could figure out one nearby that has what we might need.” He said and scratched the back of his neck. “Don’t be disappointed if we can’t do that today.”

“I won’t be. We’ll figure something out. I was mostly kidding, but it would be an interesting experience. Really though, I just want to spend time with you.”

“Hmm, I’ll look around then, see what I can find and save it for a day we have more time.” Derek said and gave Stiles ass a quick smack. “Come on, you’re late. Keep fidgeting around and I’ll just kidnap you for the day.”

“Oh my god, let’s do that one of these days. Just throw me over your shoulder and carry me off for the day.” He snickered, quickly kissing his cheek before he pulled away and took his hand so he could lead him downstairs. “Actually, no. I might puke on you. But uh, yeah. We’ll do something fun for lunch, and then we’ll go to your place for the afternoon and evening.”

“Yeah, would much rather not being puked on.” Derek said, following behind Stiles and giving his hand a gentle squeeze. “But just don’t forget to talk to Scott about what I said.”

“Don’t worry, I will. I promise. I’ll write it on my hands so I don’t forget.” Stiles replied, taking out a pen when he got to his backpack before he scribbled it on his arm. “Now I can’t forget it. Anything else?”

“No,” Derek said with a laugh. “Unless you want to remind yourself of the stuff you planned on picking up after school.”

Stiles thought about it for a moment before shaking his head. “Nah, that should be good. Now all I need is my ‘see you later’ kiss.” He replied, putting his pen back before he placed a hand on the back of Derek’s head and pulled him in for a kiss.

Derek smirked, shaking his head. “Cheeky little ferret.” He muttered as Stiles pulled him in for the kiss.

“No.” Stiles groaned as he buried his face in his neck. “ _God no._ ” He stated but he couldn’t help himself from snickering a little.

Derek laughed. “The more you say no, the more that name’s gonna stick.” He said, wrapping his arms around Stiles’ back.

“No.” Stiles groaned a little as he hugged him back before he suddenly started to laugh. “Oh my fucking god. I’m just picturing how messed up our pack family is. I’m just imagining a bunch of wolves running around with a ferret...or a squirrel.”

Derek laughed, shaking his head. “I’m scared of what it would be like to see inside your head, even for five minutes.” He said with a smile.

“Uh, you know when you channel surf and it’s just a lot of different things really quickly? That’s basically it. Every now and again you catch bits and pieces of different things and sometimes you find a good channel and watch but then a commercial comes on so you have to channel surf again.” He snickered a little. “I’m afraid to get into your mind too. I’m pretty sure you think about chasing cars and cats, peanut butter, bones, and things like that. Do you chase mailmen?”

“I’m going to chase you here in a minute.” Derek said, rolling his eyes. “Seriously, I’m _this_ close to taking you back with me.” He said, brushing his hands over Stiles’ arms as he pulled away.

Stiles laughed a little at that and shook his head a little. “I’ll let you do that next time. Promise.” He said softly before he gently kissed his jaw. “I’ll see you in a few hours, okay?” He asked as he pulled away and grabbed his car keys. “Don’t chase any cats while you’re waiting for me okay?”

“I’ll try not to,” Derek said before rolling his eyes. “Drive safe, all right?” He asked, stuffing his hands into his coat pockets.

Stiles nodded and kissed his jaw. “You too, babe.” He replied before he picked his backpack up and led the way to the garage so he could let Derek out. “Do you want me to give you a lift to your car?”

“You’re late enough as is and I’m good walking.” Derek said as he followed Stiles to the garage. “Thanks though.” he said with a small smile. “See you at noon?” he asked.

“It’s like this thing I read online. In high school, if you’re gonna be late, you may as well be super late.” He laughed a little before nodded. “I sure hope so. See you later, Romeo.”

“See you,” Derek said, shaking his head and giving Stiles a wave before he walked out of the garage. He started making the trek to his car, hands tucked into his pockets and hoping against all hope that nothing would happen to fuck up the plans they’d made for today.

Stiles watched him go, shamelessly staring at his butt before he finally got in his car and drove to school as fast as he could, while still staying safe.

\---------------------------------------------

Stiles met up with Scott in their class, dropping his bag beside him. “Ugh, sorry I’m late. Allison got a translation?”

“Dude where the hell have you been?” Scott asked, clearly having been freaking out a little.

“You can probably smell where I’ve been.” Stiles replied honestly, raising his eyebrows a little as he slowly grinned.

“Yeah, I’m not even going to comment on that,” Scott said and cleared his throat. Stiles couldn’t help but laugh a little at that.

“Consider it some payback for all the couple talk I’ve heard from you.” Scott rolled his eyes.

“Anyway, Ms. Morell helped Allison out with it, hang on,” he said and brought his backpack around from the back of his chair and dug through it a minute before pulling out a tablet. He loaded up the translation and handed it over to Stiles. “Unfortunately it doesn’t say anything about how to figure out who’s controlling him, but you were right about the ‘murderers’ thing.” He said, reaching over and scrolling to that section of the translation. Stiles looked at the tablet, skimming through the translation as he cocked his head and thought about everything.

“Of course I’m right. So, uh, let’s see. Oh, great, basically he’s this way because he has too much pent up drama to become a werewolf yet? That’s just....nice. Basically instead of therapy, he becomes a murderous brainwashed lizard man. That’s just… Wow. That’s so Jackson.”

“Allison said it might have something to do with who his real parents are, so our job is to try and talk to Lydia. I’ve got that make-up test during my free hour tomorrow, so if we don’t do it today then it’s down to you. Allison said she’d try and talk to Jackson tomorrow too - she’s paranoid about her family watching her talking to him.” He said and tapped his pencil against his hand a couple times. “Which I don’t blame her.”

“Leave Lydia to me. I’ve gotta talk to her about some stuff anyways. I might be able to get her to tell me. So maybe if we get that out of the way, she might not really have to talk to him. Hopefully not.”

“Hopefully,” Scott said and glanced up as their English teacher walked in. “Good luck,” he muttered, getting out his English notebook.

“Good luck to you too. Do you need any help studying before your test?” He whispered as he got his English homework and book out.

“That’d be great, yeah, thanks,” Scott whispered back, flipping his notebook open and turning pages until; he found the one with his homework on it. He scribbled his name on the top and tore it out, reaching into his backpack for his textbook. “So, I assume you and Derek are okay now?” he whispered, glancing up at the board where their teacher was writing down today’s assignment of reading as the class settled in; Stiles nodded at that.

“Better than okay. I had him come over after I got home, then uh, I’m going to lunch with him and going to his place.” He said softly, tapping his pen on his desk for a moment. “I uh...I actually told him about my mom this morning so I think it’s safe to say we’re kind of serious already.” He replied before he remembered something. “I actually need to tell you a Kanima theory later that Derek has.” Scott nodded slowly, actually pretty stunned that Stiles had talked to Derek about his mom. Then again, Derek had suffered not only the similar loss of losing his mom, but more than that too - if anyone would understand it would be Derek.

“We can talk about it while you’re helping me study,” he said quietly, just before being shushed by their teacher. “Sorry.” He told her and she just nodded, going back to reading her own book. Stiles nodded at that, smiling a little as he looked down at his book. It was nice to feel a little normal again, despite everything going on around them.

“We need to have a movie night or something soon. Just so we have some bro time.” He whispered, low enough so just Scott could hear.

“Allison’s supposed to be having a girls’ day with Lydia Saturday, maybe we could do it then?” Scott whispered back under his breath, looking over at Stiles. Stiles nodded at that and gave him a thumbs up to that idea. It would be nice to just hang out with him again like they used to before any of this werewolf crap.

“We’ll get some good movies and order pizza.”

“Mr. McCall and Mr. Stilinski - is there something you both would like to share with the class?” their teacher asked and Scott sat up a little straighter in his seat.

“No ma’am.” he answered and she sighed, putting her book down.

“Then please, do not make yourselves a distraction again. Otherwise you can tell Principal Argent what it is that you find so interesting you had to discuss it during silent reading.” she said and after staring at them for a moment she slowly picked her book up again. Scott just gave Stiles a nod and after turning his book to the right page he started to read.

“Sorry, ma’am.” Stiles piped up before he looked back down at the book as he sighed lightly. He wouldn’t mind going to the principal’s office as much if the principal wasn’t a psychotic elderly man that wanted to probably cut his best friend and boyfriend in half.

He tried to keep himself busy before noon, but all he could think about was spending time with Derek and all of the time that they were going to spend together that day. When the bell finally rang, signaling it was time for lunch, Stiles threw everything into his backpack and practically ran to the parking lot so that he could see if Derek was already there.

Derek had spent most of his morning researching this via the free wifi of a coffee shop near the school and a borrowed laptop of Isaac’s. From shops that were BDSM friendly, to shopping for inks, and even looking at tattoo shops who allowed flexible schedules - which were few and far between in Beacon Hills and even in San Francisco which was an hour away. By the time he realized it was lunchtime he was half-way through an application to one which he cut short because he did _not_ want to be late. He packed up the laptop and hopped into his car, speeding off to the school.

When he got there Stiles was already outside waiting so he pulled his car up to the curb and rolled the window down on Stiles’ side. “Get in,” he said, leaning over and popping open the door. Stiles grinned when he saw the familiar Camaro, getting in the car before he kissed his cheek quickly.

“Good, for a moment I was thinking that you’d forgotten about me or something. Then again, I highly doubt you can. I’m very memorable.” He snickered as he put his seat belt on.

“I got caught up looking into things,” he said, smirking a little over at Stiles. “I started filling out an application for a tattoo parlor in San Francisco. I don’t know if I’ll turn it in though. It’s too much of a drive for the profit to be worth it.” he said, pulling away from the curb and driving towards the exit.

“True, but you would be getting experience to help if you want to open a shop and you can meet people and get connections.” He pointed out as he grinned at him. “And if you start tattooing again, I’m pretty sure you’re gonna have problems with me not being able to keep my hands off of you.”

“All of which is true, but if something happens and I’m an hour away and I can’t get there in time?” Derek said sighing. “At least if I could get a job at a place here I’d be closer.”

“True....” He said softly, cocking his head as he traced the back of his hand. “Well, when things calm down, you wouldn’t have to worry about that as much. Especially when your pack is done with their training.”

“I’m just stressing out about everything that’s going on.” Derek said and adjusted his back against his seat. “Where did you want to eat?” He asked, glancing over at Stiles.

“I have absolutely no idea. Is it cheesy to say I don’t care as long as I’m with you? I mean, you could give me a bag of potato chips and I would call it good.” Derek laughed, shaking his head.

“Maybe I’ll just bring you back to that coffee shop I was using the wifi from. Show you what all I found.” He said.

“I’d like that.” Stiles grinned at him. He still loved making Derek laugh. “Y’know, I think every time you laugh, a puppy is born.”

“Cute,” Derek said, rolling his eyes, switching into the turning lane so he could get to the street the coffee shop was on. “Find anything more about Jackson?”

“That’s a compliment, you dork.” Stiles replied before he shrugged. “We discovered that he’s supposed to be a werewolf, but he can’t become one yet due to a bunch of problems he has deep in his head.”

“Lovely,” Derek said with a snort. “With how bad he was bugging me to give him the Bite I’m not surprised he’s got issues.” He muttered, slowing down behind a car that was pulling into a place right next to the coffee shop. Once they were out of the way he drove to the coffee shop’s parking entrance, finding a spot next to an old beat up yellow Volkswagen.

“Gotta love it right? I mean it’s one thing after the other with him.” Stiles stated, rolling his eyes a little as he shook his head. “I mean it’s fine to have problems, but don’t be an asshole.”

“It’s beyond him having issues now, he’s corrupted and I’m saying that because of the translation. He needs to be told what’s going on,” he said and took a second to turn off his car and pocket the keys. “Did you get the chance to talk to Scott about what I said yet?”

“Not yet, but I’m going to do it tomorrow. I’m helping him study for a test he missed so I’ll bring it up after.” Derek nodded, brushing his lips against the back of Stiles hand.

“Ready to go in?”

“Yeah.” Stiles said softly, grinning at him before he set his backpack down and got out of the car.

“Okay,” Derek said and grabbed the handle of the laptop back from behind Stiles’ seat, getting out of the car too. He led Stiles inside, finding a corner booth with an outlet that wasn’t taken. It was lunch hour for the coffee shop now so it was a lot more packed than when he had left.

“Here, you can browse through the tabs I left open,” he said and flipped open the laptop back, opening the laptop and pressing a random key so it would come out of sleep mode. Stiles nodded and began looking through the tabs. He started with the tattoo ones, looking at the different shops so he could try to see places that Derek could work at. It wasn’t long before he furrowed his eyebrows before he slowly raised them.

“Uh, why were you looking for ‘BDSM friendly stores’?” He asked curiously. Derek shifted a little in his seat, raising his eyebrows.

“Why wouldn’t I be looking for those?” He asked and frowned a little. “Should I not be looking for that kind of thing?” Stiles stared at him for a few moments before it started to click.

“....Oh.” He replied, his eyes widening a little as his face flushed. “Oh, uh, right. No, you can keep looking for them. That’s fine.” Derek suppressed a smile, biting a little at his lower lip for a second.

“I won’t force you into it, I promise. I just thought it might give you a few ideas.” Derek said and pressed the lid of the laptop down half-way. “Come on, I’m not going to have you sit here and not eat. You missed breakfast,” he said and slid a menu from the stand over to Stiles.

“Buy me a Danish and a Caramel Mochiatto and I’ll let you do whatever you want to me.” Stiles winked at him before he laughed a little. “Basically, I’m easy to please if you haven’t figured that out already. And you better eat something too. This isn’t Twilight so you can’t give me any excuses on how you don’t have to at this moment or blah blah blah.” Derek rolled his eyes, getting up from his seat and shaking his head.

“Twilight’s a piece of shit.” Stiles laughed a little at that.

“Well no shit, that’s why so many people hate it. Maybe I’ll start calling you my Jacob, maybe I won’t.” He snickered a little. “Then again, he fell in love with an infant, so...” Derek shuddered at the reminder and glanced at the line.

“I’ll try and hurry.” he added, leaving Stiles where he was to stand at the end of the line. He kept glancing around him, and over at Stiles, until eventually he reached the front of the line and it was his turn.

“My name is Kathy, how can I help you?” the girl behind the counter said and Derek reiterated what Stiles wanted, getting one of their clubhouse sandwiches for himself and a Sprite.

“That’ll be twenty five dollars,” she said and he sighed inwardly, taking out his wallet and handing her his credit card. She scanned it and handed him the receipt to sign, afterwards directing him to wait until his name was called. He went back over to Stiles and sat down, leaning his head down to the table and resting his forehead on it.

“I seriously need a job.” he said, the table and how he was sitting muffling what he said a little. Stiles smiled a little and kissed his head before he ruffled his hair.

“We’ll find you one, don’t worry.” He said softly before he got his wallet out and gave him the cash for his half of the bill.

“No, uh-uh, you’re not gonna pay me for this,” Derek said and folded the bills back into Stiles’ hand. “I may complain and wince every time I have to use my credit card, but I’m not having you pay for things that are paid for already.” he said. “I’ve got this. I just need to look harder.”

“I’m going Dutch because I feel like it and there is nothing you can do about it.” Stiles huffed with a laugh. “I’m just as stubborn as you so take the damn cash before I just stick it down your pants in front of all these people.”

“You wouldn’t.” Derek said, glaring at him before he eventually sighed, closing his eyes for a moment before snapping them open and nodding. He reluctantly pulled out his wallet, sticking the cash inside before putting it back into his back pocket. “You’ve gotta stop doing that.”

“Stop doing what?” He asked with a grin as he cupped Derek’s face gently. He raised his eyebrow just a little, cocking his head as he stared at his mouth. “Bribing you or the other thing?”

“The other thing,” Derek said. “And a bit of the bribing, but not so much as the other thing.” he said and rested a hand on Stiles’ leg. “I actually kind of like the bribing.” Stiles laughed a little as he moved his arm around his neck.

“Good, because I was hoping you weren’t going to question why I would want to keep sticking my hand down your pants.” He replied, gently bumping their foreheads together.

“I might if you’re trying to do it in public,” Derek said with a laugh. He pressed a gentle kiss to Stiles’ lips, breaking it off quickly. He didn’t much care for public displays of affection, but he wasn’t going to hold off considering they never knew when things were going to go wrong or interrupt them. Stiles just grinned and pulled him back so he could kiss him again. He kept it longer this time, gently rubbing the back of Derek’s neck as he kept him close. Derek smirked against Stiles’ lips, giving Stiles’ leg a gentle squeeze before pulling away again. “Not here, people can see us. It’s... weird.” He muttered, keeping his eyes closed as he brushed his nose against Stiles’. Stiles snickered a little and shook his head as he nuzzled their noses together.

“Okay, I won’t make out with you and grope you in public then.”

“Thanks,” Derek said softly, smiling over at him.

“Derek!” He heard and looked up to see there was a worker holding up their order.

“Be right back,” Derek said, nudging Stiles’ nose with his and getting up from the seat to retrieve their food. He thanked the barista and had to work his way around a mother and her bubblegum popping daughter before getting back to Stiles. He sat the food down, wiggling Stiles’ coffee carefully from the up tray they’d given him.

“Your macchiato or whatever it was.” He said, handing it to Stiles.

“It’s called a ‘Caramel Macchiato’, you uncultured whore. Get your facts straight.” Stiles stated as he took the coffee before he started to laugh. “Oh my God, that just came out of nowhere, I’m so sorry.” He laughed harder at his lack of a filter for his mouth, burying his face in Derek’s shoulder. Derek blinked a few times, giving the biggest bitchface.

“If you didn’t notice, I’m your whore,” he said and shook his head, opening the bag with their food and digging out his sandwich. He passed the bag in front of Stiles, unwrapping his food. “And I don’t think I’m far off in saying you’re mine.” Stiles stopped laughing at that and stared up at Derek with wide eyes, his jaw dropping a little as he processed that information. He slowly grinned and nodded at that.

“You bet your sweet ass I am.” He stated as he moved his legs over Derek’s lap and took his Danish from the bag. “You’re gonna regret giving me coffee and sugar, just an F.Y.I.”

“Yeah, but you’re going back to school in like half an hour. How long could that possibly last?” Derek asked, raising an eyebrow over at Stiles. He took a bite of his sandwich, humming happily at the plethora of flavors.

“Oh, you would be very surprised.” He replied, gently nuzzling their noses together for a moment. “Never underestimate the powers of having ADHD.”

“I think I can handle it,” Derek said, not sounding completely confident. “Why do you eat that if it makes you all... Hyped up?”

“Because fuck you that’s why.” Stiles stated before he smiled widely at him. “No, I’ll probably be fine, but there’s no way in Hell anything could get me to stop eating delicious things due to it having sugar in it. Like I used to eat pixie sticks like crazy when I was a kid...And that’s probably why I’m so messed up.”

“I can only imagine how you’d have reacted during thanksgiving dinners. Pies, cakes, cookies, and then the typical feast... You’d either be literally bouncing off the walls or comatose.”

“Oh, I’m totally comatose. Last year I ate so much that I slept for nearly an entire day.” He replied before taking a swig of his coffee. “I’m stocking your warehouse up with energy drinks because I’m pretty sure I’m gonna be there a lot.”

“So you said,” Derek said with a smirk, nudging his leg up to bump Stiles’. “I should probably get a larger fridge. My little mini one isn’t going to hold much more. Maybe if I talk to one of the shops around here they’ll hire me on for weekdays or something. Oddly enough not much happens around here while you guys are in school.”

“I guess monsters want us to be responsible or something.” He said softly, grinning up at him before he nodded. “That sounds like a good idea. You can be a responsible adult while we are responsible teenagers.”

“I don’t want to be an adult,” Derek said with a laugh, shaking his head. “Really though, I need references. The ones I had in New York aren’t really going to help here.”

“Be a sexy adult.” He replied before he gently bit his nose playfully. “That’s also true, but the good thing about it is that even if you don’t like it as much, you get closer to opening up your own shop.” Derek rolled his eyes, brushing the back of his hand against his nose to get rid of the weird feeling of being bitten there. He hoped that he’d be around that long, because honestly he didn’t know how many of them were going to survive if it came down to all out war with the Argents.

“I’d get a shop now, but I really just don’t want to end up empty handed. There’s something I’ve been wanting to do and I’ll need a lot of money to do it.”

“And what’s that thing that you’ve been wanting to do?” He asked, gently biting his nose again since he found that the way that Derek had reacted to it was very entertaining.

“It’s a secret,” Derek said, scowling at him as he rubbed his nose again. “Stop that. It feels weird.”

“Tell me all of your secrets.” He whispered to him before he did it again, just to spite him.

“Not this one,” Derek murmured back, retaliating by nipping at Stiles’ nose in return.

“Wow, rude.” Stiles said softly, crossing his eyes and grinning when Derek nipped at his nose. “Awww, little puppy nips.”

“I’m sure there are things you don’t want to tell me yet, I have this.” Derek said and smirked over at him. “I might tell you, if I feel like I’m actually going to afford it. Not a second sooner.”

“Okay, good. If you do, I’ll tell you my deep dark secrets.” Stiles replied as he gently bumped his nose to his. “Not that I have many. I’m pretty simple.”

“I just don’t want to jinx it and it’s... yeah, I mean that’s basically it.” Derek said, shaking his head and setting down the half of his sandwich that was left. He leaned back in the booth and looked over to Stiles. Stiles nodded and took Derek’s hand before he gently kissed his knuckles.

“I understand that.” He said softly, before he smiled up at him. “Y’know...I might not have to go back to school.”

“Oh really?” Derek asked, raising an eyebrow. “What would you do instead?”

“I could be persuaded to go home with a certain brooding man with dark hair that also looks pretty damn hot in leather.” He shrugged a little.

Derek chuckled, “I’ll at least have you pick up your school work. And your Jeep.” He said, not going to object if that’s what Stiles wanted to do.

“And we’ll go get groceries, then I can drop them off and I’ll be yours for the day.” Stiles grinned as he traced Derek’s jaw with his thumb.

“Sounds pretty good. Guess we’re not on a time crunch anymore, though you might text Scott and tell him what you’re doing.” Stiles nodded at that.

“Sounds like a plan.” He replied, pulling out his phone so that he could text Scott about his plans about taking the rest of the day off as a sick day. “I’m gonna get laid.” The teenager whispered to himself after he sent the message. Derek sighed inwardly, chuckling.

“You have no idea.” he said with a grin. Stiles’ phone went off a second later and Derek leaned over to peek at the message.

_’I thought you were going to help me study. Is everything okay? I tried to find you, but it seems like you left.’_ Stiles glanced down at his phone for a moment before he looked back up at Derek. “You can handle one more hour right?” He asked curiously.

“No, I’ll die,” Derek laughed, shaking his head. “Help him study, I’ll survive one more hour.” He said and cuddled up a little more next to Stiles, resting his head against Stiles’ shoulder. “Doesn’t mean I’m not going to be irritated at Scott.” Stiles laughed a little and nodded as he kissed his head.

“Don’t get too lonely without me okay?”

_’I changed my mind, I’ll be there to help you study and then I’ll go home after that. Bros before hos. ; )’_ He texted Scott back. Derek grumbled, rubbing his cheek against Stiles’ shoulder.

“He’d better pass this test if he’s stealing you away from me.” He said quietly. Scott texted back a few seconds later.

_’Thank you so much, dude. Sorry that you gotta help me.’_

_’No don’t worry about it. Helping you pass a test is more important.’_ Stiles assured him before he snickered at Derek’s grumbling. “Well, maybe you and I can study some anatomy afterwards?”

“Promise?” Derek asked with a laugh, lifting his head enough to look over at Stiles. This close to his face he’d never noticed how many moles he had until now. “Your moles are kind of adorable by the way.” Stiles crooked an eyebrow at that and slowly grinned at him.

“Oh, so they’re adorable, huh?” He asked, bumping their noses together. “Maybe you should start counting how many I have.”

“Hmmmm, maybe that can be part of the ‘anatomy lesson,’” he said with a chuckle. “What happens if I can’t count that high? Now that I’m thinking about it, you have a lot of them.”

“I’m pretty sure I have about...seventeen on my face? Then some on my arms and neck....Maybe I have some on my back? You can tell me later.” He winked at him. “There’s one above my nipple too.” Derek hummed, closing his eyes.

“If you’re going to help Scott study I should take you back to the school before I just decide to stash my keys somewhere you won’t find them.”

“Down your pants?” He asked curiously, raising his eyebrows before he nodded. “Yeah, sounds good. We should head out before I actually stick my hands down your pants.”

“I think if I put them down my pants you’d find them,” Derek said with a laugh and detangled his arms from Stiles so he could pack up his sandwich. “Could you get the laptop?” he asked ad he was wrapping his sandwich back up to put it in the little to-go container. Stiles nodded and moved his legs off of him so he could put the laptop away for him.

“Nah, I’d get distracted with the other doo-hickey in your pants. I’m gonna call it Princess Derek from now on, okay?” He asked before he quickly climbed out of the booth so he could walk out of the shop as fast as he could with the laptop and his coffee. Derek’s face flushed red the second Stiles finish his sentence and he grabbed his sandwich, leaving his soda, as he jogged a little to catch up to Stiles.

“You are not calling my dick, Princess Derek.” he muttered to him after he’d caught up, glaring at him. Stiles cackled as he walked faster.

“Princess Derek is going to have to disagree with that. I should know. I consider myself a bit of a snake charmer and that snake sure is charmed by me.” He glanced back at him so he could wink, almost wondering if he should start running.

“I swear to God, Stiles.” Derek grumbled, easily keeping pace with his slightly longer legs. “Don’t call it that.”

“I’m calling it The Queen then.” He laughed harder. “How about uh...Thor’s Hammer? Or The Destroyer? Anaconda.”

“Stiles!” Derek said loudly, gritting his teeth so he wouldn’t start laughing too. “It doesn’t need a name, seriously. Why do you do this to me?” he asked, unable to stop the bubble of amusement that spilled into his voice.

“Because I love fucking with you. Figuratively and literally.” He stated, winking at him. “I’m rather fond of Anaconda though. It’s a venom spitting trouser snake anyways.” Derek sighed, glad that they reached his car.

“Keep trying to come up with a name and I’ll come up with one for yours that’s just as ridiculous.” Derek said, switching the bag with his food in it to his left hand so he could dig out his car keys. Stiles slowly grinned as he leaned against Derek’s car.

“I’m pretty sure you couldn’t come up with something too bad anyways.” He winked at him. “So uh, did you find any BDSM friendly stores?”

“I did,” Derek said, unlocking the doors. “It’s a bit of a drive, but we could make it today if you wanted to do that after you help Scott.”

“Oh fuck yes. I wanna find like...What’s the word?” He paused, snapping his fingers as he thought. “Fuck...Uh, I wanna find....Shackles. Yeah! That’s the word!” Derek raised his eyebrows and opened Stiles’ door for him.

“We’ll look around,” Derek said, setting his sandwich in the backseat. “You’re new to this and I get you’re enthusiastic, but I don’t want to go too big too fast, you know?” Stiles thought about that and nodded as he got into the car.

“True...I’m sorry, I just got a little excited by what I saw on the internet.” He said softly, taking Derek’s hand when he could.

“It’s totally okay, I’m glad you’re excited. I just want to make sure you’re not rushing into a decision because it looks cool or something...” Derek said and gave Stiles’ hand a squeeze before he shut Stiles’ door and went around to get in too. “I don’t know,” he said as he sat down, starting the car. “Maybe I’m just being paranoid...”

“No, you’re right. We can start out slow. It’s better to start out slow, instead of me just jumping in and doing something that would turn me away from that sort of thing.” Stiles replied as he thought about it a little more. He thought of something he for sure wanted to try out and slowly grinned to himself.

“Exactly my train of thought,” Derek said and shifted his car into reverse, backing out and then driving off towards the exit. “Just wait until we get to the shop, maybe you’ll see something else you want to try more. If not, we’ll find some cuffs that are comfortable.”

“And we can also stock up on some cherry lube. Or banana, since you’re still a giant banana.” He said softly as he sat back so he could watch Derek drive. “You know, you have a very sexy face profile.”

“Banana’s are gross, no offense,” Derek said with a laugh, hanging a left out of the parking lot. He glanced over at Stiles and smirked. “I’d probably look better if I’d shaved anywhere recently.” He turned on the radio, expecting to hear his Three Days Grace mix and instead being accosted by something _definitely_ not Three Days Grace. “Stiles, where is my CD and what the hell is this?”

“Fuck you, bananas are awesome.” He replied before he cackled and turned it up. “Don't diss the Lady Gaga, dude! He ate my heart! He a-a-ate my heart!” He exclaimed along with the music, bouncing a little in his seat. Derek sighed and gave Stiles his best ‘what the hell is wrong with you’ face. He shook his head, digging his cigarettes from the center console and getting one out before placing the filter between his lips.

“At least tell me my CD is okay?” he asked, raising his eyebrows over at Stiles before exhaling heavily through his nose. He shifted his hips forward so he could get his lighter out of his pocket, adjusting them back once he’d gotten it and lighting his cigarette. He cracked the window after, exhaling out.

“This may or may not be the first of the mix CDs that I made. I was going to give it to you that night we fought.” He shrugged a little before he leaned over to kiss his neck. “So you’ll have to give it a listen.” Derek’s attitude towards the music changed minimally, still irritated that his CD was currently wherever Stiles put it and had yet to tell him where.

“I will,” he said grudgingly, humming a little at Stiles’ kiss. “So you’re just gonna help Scott and then come back out?”

“Yeah, it shouldn’t take too long.” He replied, reaching into his backpack before he took out his zip up CD case. “Your beloved CD is in here, just for future reference.” Derek nodded to Stiles’ first comment, glancing over at him as he shifted around to get the CD case.

“Thank you for keeping it in a safe place.” he said and flicked his ashes. “Laura wasn’t one for keeping very good care of her CDs, or mine.”

“I’m pretty sure that you would slice me open and strangle me with my intestines if I ruined anything of yours.” Stiles pointed out as he raised his eyebrows.

“Oh come on, I was kidding - a little mad - but still kidding,” Derek said, catching Stiles’ reference. “Though I would make you replace the CD.”

“I’d pay you back in blow jobs.” Stiles stated, grinning at him. “That seems to work.”

“You’re cute, but seriously.” he said with a laugh, glancing over at Stiles. He slowed to a stop at the sign before they’d get to the school, noting that Scott was sitting outside next to Lydia on the stairs. “Seems like your friends are waiting for you.” Stiles nodded and once they came to a stop, he cupped Derek’s face in his hands and gave him a deep kiss. He slid his tongue into his mouth to brush against his for a moment before he pulled away.

“I’ll see you in an hour.” He grinned at him as he grabbed his bag and got out of the car before shutting the door behind him. “Don’t get too bored.”

“I’ll be waiting,” Derek said and waved at Scott who gave a little awkward wave before getting to his feet. Lydia stood too, brushing off her skirt before starting down the stairs.

“Stiles, the little liar.” she said, with a sweet smile, though it was clearly not meant to be sweet with how it didn’t reach her eyes. Stiles met Lydia’s gaze and paused, realizing that he had fucked up. He completely had forgotten to call her and tell her about what happened with Derek the night before. Derek frowned, glancing between Stiles and Scott who just shrugged. He wondered if he should get out and say ‘hi’ or just leave, but neither option seemed to be the best one with the way Lydia was looking at him.

“Uh, hey Lydia.” He spoke up as he started walking closer to her again. “Sorry, we had a crazy night last night but uh, surprise your advice worked and I have a boyfriend...” He said slowly, his words trailing off to sound like a question at the end since he was trying to find out the best way to get her to not murder him.

“I can see that,” she said and fixed her glare over at Stiles. “Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t strangle your little gangly self all the way to kingdom come?” she said and crossed her arms, tapping her foot. Derek slowly got out of his car, walking around the front of it and gaining Lydia’s attention. “Or maybe I should just strangle both of you.” she said, her words short and clipped.

“It’s my fault,” Derek said, “after we made up, I didn’t exactly give him a chance to talk to anyone else. We haven’t really separated since last night and that’s completely on me.” Lydia narrowed her eyes at him, looking between him and Stiles a couple times before pointing at both of them.

“Oh really? Because I didn’t see you at school with him today,” she said and looked over at Stiles. “Just because who-knows-what is going on between all of you, doesn’t mean you get to neglect me in everything else too.” She said angrily and turned so fast her hair whipped around her shoulders as she looked over to Scott. “I’ll help you study. Stiles and his little friend can go find something more important to do.” She glanced over her shoulder to glare at them both. “Seems like they’re good at that.” She said and stormed off back inside. Scott stood awkwardly, rocking on his heels.

“I should probably… wow, what the hell did you do to piss her off so bad?” Scott asked. Stiles stared at Lydia with wide eyes, feeling more terrified of her than he probably ever had in the whole time he had known her.

“Well....Uh...To put it simply, after I left you and Allison, I went to go talk to Lydia and I got some relationship advice from her, and I promised that I would tell her how things went after I talked to Derek, and then you know how things went after that.” He said slowly before he sighed and put his head in his hands.

“I’m gonna have to make it up to her so badly. I am going to spoil the ever loving fuck out of her for her birthday.” He replied, figuring that would be one of the best things that he could do to help her feel better about everything. “So uh...Do you think I should stay, or do you think that she’s going to murder me if I do?” He asked Scott.

“I don’t know. Lydia seems like she’d be even madder at you for leaving again, so maybe you should come with me?” Scott asked shifting his weight around on his feet. “That and I’m kind of scared to go in there by myself.” He said and grimaced.

“She was really pissed off Stiles, but she was more hurt than anything,” Derek said and glanced up at the camera that was slowly moving over to point at where they were standing. “Go, meet me later. Scott’s right on this.” He said and glared up at the camera. “I’ve gotta go before the Argents decide to send someone to follow me back.” Stiles nodded at that and shooed Derek away.

“Yeah, that’s probably for the best. Go before they suspect that we’re a thing.” He told him, wanting to kiss him but knew it would be better to wait now. He didn’t want any chance of Derek possibly getting hurt right about now. He took a slow breath and rubbed his hands together before he looked back at Scott. “I can try talking to her to help diffuse the situation a little. That way it’ll be a little less tense when we help you study.”

Scott nodded, “That might help. I told her we’d probably study in the library so unless she’s in there waiting, that’s probably where she’ll be.”

“Alright, sounds good. I feel like I’m marching to my death.” Stiles sighed a little as he led the way to the library. Derek waved at them before leaving, speeding off towards the warehouse, doubling back a couple times even just to make sure that if he’d missed spotting a tail, he would lose them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! This chapter was originally really short, but I thought you guys might appreciate some cute after the last chapter c: Thank you all so much for your support and we hope you continue to stick around with us! If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment or you can even message us on tumblr!  
> You can find me [Here](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/melodramaticsalad/)  
> And iprincealii [here!](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/iprincealii/)  
> Thank you again and we'll see you next week!


	22. Studying

Once they were in the library, Stiles looked around for the strawberry blonde girl for a moment before spotting her and heading over to her. Lydia had her face pointed down at the book she’d gotten out, waiting for Scott and impatiently wiggling a pencil back and forth between her fingers. She looked up as Stiles walked over, honestly surprised to see him.

“I’m sorry for not keeping my promise and making you wait. Honestly, if it wasn’t for your advice, I probably wouldn’t have gotten the courage to go and talk to him, and I wouldn’t have been able to get to where I am with him now. If I hadn’t talked to you, I wouldn’t have a boyfriend right now. So thanks for all of that. Really.” Lydia listened as Stiles spoke and pursed her lips a second before narrowing her eyes at him.

“Not forgiven….” She said and looked back to her book before sighing. She had to admit, she’d given him a chance to screw up again and he hadn’t taken the bait. She looked back up at him and patted the seat next to her. “But you’ve made a decent start, so I guess I can tolerate your presence for an hour.” She said and glanced over at Scott who’d been pretending to be very interested in a book on Darwinism. He’d clearly just picked it up to spy on them.

“Come on Scott, I won’t bite you. You needed to study for that last Chemistry test, correct?” she asked, and he nodded, still a little anxious as he walked over to them and sat across the table from Lydia. “Well, let’s get started.” She said and flipped open his chemistry book once he’d gotten it out to the first chapter the test was over. Well at least that was better than nothing.

“What would make it up to you?” He asked softly, opening his own chemistry book before flipping to the first chapter of the unit that the exam was focusing on. He was still going to go with his idea of spoiling her for her birthday, but it would still be nice to hear straight from the source of anything that he could do to make her a little less angry at him.

“You could tell me one thing that’s going on. The truth, this time. No lying.” She said quietly back. Scott glanced up at Stiles, wide eyed and glancing over at Lydia while subtly shaking his head. Stiles thought about what on Earth he could even tell her without having to tell her about the things going on around them.

“Truthfully, I don’t think Isaac and Erica are going to be a problem anymore.” He replied. That totally counted, right? Lydia rolled her eyes, clicking her tongue.

“Whatever that means,” she said and pointed to a section in Scott’s book. “That’s on the test, memorize it.” She said and he nodded, glancing over at Stiles before trying to focus on what she’d pointed out. Stiles looked through his book to figure out which notes he needed, before he got them out and went over them with a highlighter.

“Alright, so the ones I highlighted are the ones you need to worry about most since Harris used them the most on the test. Look these over when you’re done reading and we’ll test you a little.” He stated as he handed them over.

Scott nodded, taking the notes from Stiles, “Thanks for helping me out guys, I seriously can’t afford to fail this test.”

“Not a problem, after all if you fail out this year, you’ll have to watch Allison graduate without you. If that’s not motivation, I don’t know what is.” She said and Scott nodded, taking a breath before going back to looking over the notes.

“That’s what we’re here for anyways. Even if you don’t end up going to college, you don’t wanna be stuck in this school longer than you have to, right?” Stiles grinned at him. “Especially not because of Harris. If I didn’t need to keep my grades up, I would fail his class just to spite him.”

“Yeah, same here,” Scott said and frowned as he pointed out a section to Lydia. “Can you explain what this is?” Lydia tilted her head and leaned forward so she could see what he was talking about. She rolled her eyes and pointed to right below where he was pointing where it explained it.

“Really Scott, just read Stiles’ notes and you should pass the test. I can get mine from my locker too if you want to study those as well.” Lydia offered and Scott nodded.

“Sorry, this is just not my best subject. At all.” Scott said, sighing as he rubbed his hands against his face for a few seconds.

“It’s okay, Scott. Chemistry can be hard anyways.” Stiles replied as he leaned forwards to see where he was lost. “If you look at some of the vocabulary, it can help you out on the test and with understanding it better in the reading.” he explained softly. Scott nodded, leaning back in his chair. Lydia made note of how tired he looked and bit at her lower lip for a second.

“How about I go get those notes and pick you up a soda? You can’t take anything in if you’re tired.” Lydia said and Scott shook his head.

“I’ll be fine; I just didn’t get much sleep last night.” Scott said and Lydia tutted.

“That’s your problem. If the brain doesn’t get enough sleep, it can’t function properly and if your brain isn’t functioning properly – you aren’t functioning properly.” Lydia said and tucked Stiles’ notes into his book and closed it. “Go to your last class; go to work, and then sleep. You’ll have three hours in the morning before the test. I suggest reading through all of this once before bed, and go over it at least three times in the morning. It will be fresh in your mind by the time Mr. Harris’ make-up exam he scheduled.”

“Shouldn’t I study now though?” Scott asked.

“Not if you’re not going to be getting anything from it.” Lydia said and started gathering up her things. “Seriously, do what I said and you can’t possibly fail the test unless you’re just /that/ terrible at taking in what you read, in which case I can’t help you.”

“She’s right. If you’re sleep deprived and stressed out, then it’s not going to be helping anything if you try to cram in a bunch of information.” Stiles piped up as he closed his book. “I’ll go over it with you in the morning and quiz you to make sure that you’ve got it down when you’re less tired and stressed out.” He knew the stress part wouldn’t really go away much, but hey, anything would help out.

“Thanks again you guys, you have no idea how helpful this is,” Scott says and reluctantly gets up and stuffs his book away into his backpack.

“It’s what friends are for, Scott. I think you should do that though, just go home and catch up on the sleep that you’ve been missing for the last few days.” Stiles replied. Lydia pats him on the shoulder before giving Stiles a short little annoyed smirk, heels silent on the carpeting until she reaches the doors where they continue clicking until Scott can’t even hear them anymore. He looks at his watch and huffs out a sigh. “I think I’ll ask Deaton for the afternoon off, take a nap and study some more – get some real rest for once. What about you?” Scott asks. “You gonna meet up with Derek?” Stiles slowly grinned.

“Yeah, of course I’m going to meet up with Derek. Oh yeah, Derek wanted me to talk to you about working with him. You don’t have to be part of his pack really, I don’t know, but uh, it’s better to work together to take this whole Jackson thing on instead of just you, me, and Allison.” Scott frowns at the mention of Derek’s offer – yet again trying to get him to join up with him.

“I don’t know Stiles, I know we could use the help on this, but I just… After everything that happened with Peter and Derek taking that chance from me, I don’t know if I’m ready for working with him, as pack or not. I’m honestly only really tolerating the fact that you two are seeing each other because I can see how happy he makes you.” Scott says and worries his bottom lip with his teeth.

“Ask me again tomorrow, I’ll think about it, at least.” He says, rubbing his hand against the back of his neck.

“Okay, I know that he really, really fucked that up, but hear me out. This isn’t me taking sides, by the way. So, I want you to picture it this way, what if someone killed everyone you ever cared about, leaving just you and your sister, and then your sister is killed. When you find out that it’s your uncle, he promises you that it was all a mistake, and manipulates you into helping him, only for you to find out that he killed your sister to make himself stronger? I’m not saying that Derek was right, but when he tells me about how he and his sister were, it would have been like you suddenly just finding out that your mom and I had both been killed.

So that’s why I also can’t blame Derek too hard for letting his anger get the best of him and killing him. We’ll talk about it more tomorrow, I just thought you should look at it from that angle too.” Stiles said softly. 

Scott lowers his eyes, not even having looked at it that way – not because he didn’t know most of that stuff already, but because he couldn’t bring himself to empathize with Derek. He doesn’t say anything in the way of an agreement, just nodding his head a few times before starting off towards the doors. Stiles felt a little bad for making Scott feel bad about that, but he wanted to get his friend to sort of feel how Derek felt about that night.


	23. Road Head

Once he was finished with checking out, he headed to his car before he pulled out his phone. _’Free from school if you’re all ready to be a bad influence on me. ; )’_ He texted Derek once he was in the safety of his car.

_’I’m at home, so yeah. Get your scrawny little ass over here.’_ Derek texted back with a smirk. He was in the process of looking up directions to that shop - the need to get out of town after that camera spotted him at the school was looking really good. Not to mention going to a BDSM shop with Stiles was seriously the last thing he’d imagined ever doing and he was actually really looking forward to it.

_’....Did you just call me scrawny? Well, at least my scrawny ass can get through small spaces while your muscular ass would get stuck.’_ Stiles laughed as he texted him before he put his phone away so he could drive.

He stopped at the store to get a few snacks for them to enjoy throughout the day before he set the bags in the backseat. Once he was at Derek’s place, he got out of his car and headed straight up before he let himself in. “Derry, I’m home!” He called out, grinning to himself.

“Up here,” Derek called out the bedroom door, eyes flicking over his phone’s GPS directions as he studied the route again. It was fairly simple - the least amount of turns to get to where they were going as simply as possible. He still might need the directions by the time they got to San Francisco though, so he kept the webpage open on his phone, turning off the screen as he got up and walked to the doorway of it to meet Stiles. Stiles headed up to his bedroom before he slid his arms around Derek’s waist.

“What’s up?” He asked curiously as he rested his chin on his shoulder. “Do you have plans for the day yet?”

“Yeah, I just looked up the directions to the shop that looked the most promising. You up for a road trip?” Derek asked, bringing his hands up to rest on the back of Stiles’ arms.

“I’m always up for a road trip with you.” Stiles grinned up at him before he kissed him quickly. “Especially if we’re going to a sex shop.” Derek laughed, shaking his head.

“Let me just grab something real quick. I keep forgetting about it and I promised I’d let you see it.” He said, lowering his arms and moving over to his bed. He lifted the mattress off the floor about a foot, grabbing the canvas that was underneath it face up. He licked and bit at his lips, hesitating a moment before offering it out to Stiles. “Like I said, I didn’t entirely finish it... but I don’t know, I think it looks nice the way it is.” Stiles felt those pesky butterflies in his stomach when he saw Derek grab the canvas. He felt so anxious and so excited to see what Derek had done and he almost wondered if he should look at it because he neither it was going to blow his mind. He looked up at Derek, swallowing hard before he looked down at it.

“Oh my God, Derek....” He whispered, almost feeling like he was looking at a photograph. “Holy shit...I love it so much.” Derek laughed, scratching the back of his neck and leaving his hand there to hang from his shoulder.

“Its yours then, there’s nothing else I really want to add to it.” He said and slipped his hand down, digging his fingers into the front pockets of his jeans. Stiles looked up at him, cocking his head as he thought about it.

“Are you sure? I mean, I’d love keeping it so much, but are you sure you don’t want to see my face when you go to sleep? You could make a shrine of me with it.”

“I drew this for you, besides, if I want a picture of you I can just use my phone.” Derek said and took his hands out of his pockets, “Come on though, we should get going before it gets any later.”

“Well, thank you. I really love it, Der.” Stiles murmured before he looked down at it to admire it again. “You’re really incredible. I mean, holy shit. I could not be any more attracted to you than I am right now. I mean, what can’t your hands do?”

“Play an instrument?” Derek suggested, the first thing to pop into his head.

“Well you can learn to play something eventually.” Stiles grinned at him before looking back down at the artwork, not really wanting to put it down. Derek stepped over to Stiles and brushed his hand across the side of his face.

“I’m really glad you like it though, I wasn’t sure if you would.”

“Of course I love it, I would be freaking insane to not like it.” Derek smirked letting his hand fall to his side.

“Let me go put this in my car and we’ll go. Sound good?”

“Lead the way then. I’ll be right down, I just gotta grab a few things.” He said and walked back into his room.

“Sounds good, don’t take too long or I might get distracted and wander off.” Stiles said with a laugh before he headed back outside. He set the canvas on the backseat of his Jeep to keep it safe before grabbing one of the bags of snacks so he could put it in Derek’s car. He thought of something and slowly grinned, going to get a CD out of his casebefore putting it in Derek's stereo. Once he found the song, Barbie Girl by Aqua, he put it on and quickly turned the stereo off before turning the volume knob up. He was never going to get sick of messing with Derek.

Derek took the stairs two at a time, not wanting to make Stiles wait around and also wanting to try and get to the city before the shop closed, also to turn in a couple of the portfolios he had in his hands to the two shops in Beacon Hills that actually had early hours. He sat them on Stiles’ lap after he got in, putting his car key into the ignition and starting it up. The radio turned on with the car as it had been on when he’d last shut it off and he jumped with the loudness of the radio. When he realized what was playing after immediately cranking the volume down to a non-ear splitting level for him, he groaned. “You are seriously never allowed to touch the stereo. Like... ever again.” Stiles covered his mouth when Derek turned on the radio, cackling and leaning back against his seat before he threw his head back.

“But Derek, it’s totally your song!” He exclaimed, pretty proud of himself. “You just need to change your outlook! I’m pretty sure that you would look fabulous in pink, Barbie.” He winked at him before he started to cackle again.

“You know what,” Derek growled, his tone filled with warning. He grit his teeth together and took the portfolios from Stiles’ lap. “You think this is so funny, I’ll give you a reason to laugh.” he said and twisted in his seat so he was facing Stiles, reaching over and viciously wiggling his fingers at Stiles’ sides. Stiles screamed before he began to laugh, squirming and trying to get away from Derek’s hands.

“No! Not fair!” He got out through his laughter, soon wheezing as he threw his head back against the window. He grunted a little at the pain, scrunching his face up before he began to laugh again.

“Oh my god, are you okay?” Derek asked with concern in his voice, even as amusement came back to his face the second Stiles started laughing again. Derek let up on his tickling, leaning across the seats and resting his hands on the seat as he stopped his face inches from Stiles’.

“Now, get my Three Days Grace mix and I won’t tickle you anymore today, even though you deserve some sort of punishment for that atrocity to the music world.” Stiles snickered as he calmed down, looking up between Derek’s lips and his eyes before he shrugged.

“I’m perfectly fine now.” He said softly before he raised his eyebrows and slowly grinned. “You really love that mix don’t you? Also, I can’t listen to them any more without thinking about you. It’s kind of a curse and a blessing because it’s kind of hot to know that I’m dating someone that sounds so much like Adam.” Derek hummed, rolling his eyes.

“I can at least go through the rest of your CDs and maybe find something tolerable?” he suggested, suppressing a grin by biting at his lower lips, giving Stiles his best puppy dog eyes.

“Well, since we’re going on a road trip, it’ll be fun to go through some of the different CDs I brought with me.” Stiles said softly, biting his own lip as he moved an arm around Derek before resting his hand on the back of his head. “God, you’re so ridiculous. Stop being so damn attractive or I actually will tickle you.”

“You know you like it,” Derek said, darting his tongue out and brushing it against the tip of Stiles’ nose. “Go get your CDs, I promise not to leave without you.” he said with a smirk, leaning back into his seat. Stiles scrunched his face up for a moment before raising his eyebrows again.

“Okay, but did you just actually lick me?”

“Ever so observant,” Derek said with a smirk, looking at Stiles. “Yes, I licked your nose.”

“Oh, so it’s bad that I make dog jokes, but now you’re licking me?” Stiles snorted, shaking his head before getting out of the car so he could go get his small CD collection out of his Jeep. “God, I will never understand werewolves!” He exclaimed. Derek cracked up laughing a little, shaking his head and ejecting Stiles’ CD from the stereo, holding it carefully between his fingers as he waited for Stiles to come back over from his Jeep. Stiles soon returned and shut the door behind him with a sigh. He flipped through the case until he found Derek’s CD and put it in so that he could take the other one and put it in the slot that he just had emptied. Derek flashed him a small grin.

“Thank you.” he said, pulling his seatbelt across his chest and backing out of the driveway. He headed over to the first tattoo shop, the closest one to the warehouse, glancing over at Stiles. “Can you see if those portfolios are okay?” he asked, pointing his thumb over his shoulder to the backseat.

“Yeah, of course.” Stiles leaned back so he could grab the portfolios and hold them carefully on his lap. Of course, his curiosity got the best of him and he began going through them. “Holy fucking shit...” He breathed, suddenly feeling like he had some very valuable treasure in his hands. “God damn you, Derek.” Stiles murmured as he admired the different tattoos.

“I tried to choose the best ones,” Derek said, glancing over at Stiles as he drove. “If I’m lucky, they’ll think I’m as awesome as you do and give me a flexible schedule.”

“If they don’t, then there is something seriously wrong with them.” Stiles stated, crooking an eyebrow as he glanced up at him. “I need my dad’s permission for you to tattoo me right?” Derek frowned, thinking about what Stiles asked him.

“I wasn’t even thinking about that... I forget how young you are sometimes.” he admitted and thoughtfully tapped his fingers against the steering wheel. “It would probably be a good idea to ask him, but don’t tell him I’m the one giving it to you. I’d rather not have him disliking me any more than he already does.”

“You’re totally robbing the cradle.” Stiles teased before he remembered something. “Oh shit, my birthday’s coming up. I totally forgot about it with everything that’s been going on. And yeah, no, don’t worry. I’m trying hard to make it seem like you’re not a bad influence on me. Especially with the whole bad boy with the leather jacket and fast car thing you’ve got going on.” Derek grinned. He knew exactly already what he wanted to do for Stiles’ birthday, remembering all the pestering Stiles had been doing about certain things.

“I think I know what I’m going to do for you already.”

“What the hell? You already know what you’re gonna do for my birthday? You sure plan fast. Also, it’s in like a couple weeks, just so you know. I was born on the eighth.”

“Your constant nagging to get me to do things for you has given me a few ideas that I just thought of, so yeah.”

“That’s adorable.” Stiles said softly, finding it cute that Derek already had some ideas for things that they could do. It was safe to say that he was really excited for his birthday now. Derek paused at a stop sign before turning into the parking lot of a strip mall that had a sign over one of the buildings that just said ‘TATTOO’ in big black lettering. He parked out front and exhaled slowly between his lips.

He hated that he was a little nervous. Then again he hadn’t been to a place to apply in over three years, so he figured that was probably the reason. “Portfolio?” he asked, holding his hand out to Stiles. Stiles took his seat belt off before turning to face Derek better so he could lean forwards and kiss him softly.

“Hey, it’ll be okay. You’re talented and really great, and the worst they can say is that they aren’t hiring. You’ll find an awesome job, even if it isn’t today, but I still believe that you’ll probably get something cool very soon.” Derek nodded slowly, taking in and releasing a pent up breath of air before telling himself that Stiles was right, because he was.

“Thanks,” he said quietly and reached over to hug Stiles, drinking in the smell of him to try and calm his nerves. It worked fairly well and when he let go of him, he took one of the portfolio’s with him. “I’ll be right back, then there’s one more shop before we leave.” he said, resting his hand on the handle and looking up at the door to the place before getting out.

“That’s fine with me.” Stiles said softly, smiling widely as he rubbed his back before he watched Derek go. He sat back and began to fiddle with the radio, mostly seeing what was on before he began to change some of Derek’s stations. He wondered if he would even really notice it, since Derek seemed to listen to CDs more often. Derek went into the shop, having to wait a few moments for one of the artists to finish up printing out a stencil for a girl who seemed to be more interested in her phone than anything else. “Can I help you?” the artist asked, a middle aged man with a balding head and tattoos covering both arms, 1” gauges in each earlobe.

“Yeah, my name’s Derek, I was hoping to have someone take a look at my portfolio, see if there’s any openings.” Derek said and offered out the portfolio.

“Well, I’m not really the boss here, but I can take a look at your stuff, see what I can do. “ he asked, his eyes widening as he opened the folder. “Damn dude, these are pretty good. You did all these?” he asked and Derek nodded.

“Yeah, I do mostly freelance stuff for friends, word of mouth type stuff,” he lied, resting his arms on the table. “The back of the first page has my contact information, the hours I have available, basic stuff.” the guy nodded and offered his hand out which Derek shook.

“I’ll show it to the boss, see what she says. My name’s Markie,” he said and went back to looking over the folder before setting it on a table behind him. “Just between you and me though, I’m pretty sure you won’t have any problems getting hired on with the quality of your work. The detail on those.. fuck.” he said and Derek laughed, nodding.

“Thanks, I’ve gotta run, but if she decides to call I’m available to talk 24/7.” he said and Markie nodded. They exchanged quick farewells and Derek went out to the Camaro, sitting down in the front seat and flashing a smile over at Stiles. “That went well, I think.” Stiles had quickly turned the radio off when he saw Derek coming, not wanting to give him any indication of what he had been doing to entertain himself. Stiles grinned and hugged him.

“Really? That’s so awesome! See, you just gotta be positive. It’s like pixie dust, if you don’t believe, then you’re basically not going to get anywhere or have any fun.” He stated, bumping their noses together lightly.

“Well, I honestly think I’d already have a job if it was up to the guy I talked to,” Derek said, backing out of the parking space and exiting the parking lot so he could head to the next one before they’d leave town for the rest of the day. It didn’t take nearly as long at that one, the slightly larger tattoo artist working there telling him just to set his portfolio on the table and they’d call him if they were interested. Derek gave Stiles a tight-lipped smile as he sat back down in the car, sighing. “Off to San Francisco,” he said, shifting his car into reverse.

“Well, at least the first one went awesomely.” Stiles piped up when he got back in the car, staying really positive about everything. “Oh my god, I’m actually going to a sex shop with my boyfriend. This is going to be super rad, and an eye opening experience since it’ll be my first steps into the world of BDSM.”

“Just try not to freak out when we walk in there, okay? I don’t know what this shop looks like, but there’s some stuff in the BDSM world that is pretty fucked up, to me anyway,” he said, backing out of the lot and finally directing his attention to leaving Beacon Hills.

“Can I hold your hand the entire time so I don’t end up running out of the store? Because the last time I was surrounded in this little world, I got three phone numbers while being caressed and then I was almost trampled to death.”

Derek nodded and slowly frowned, “Wait, what? Three phone numbers? From who?” he asked, reaching over at taking Stiles’ hand and lacing their fingers together. He tried to fight the weird sensation of jealousy, the mention of trampling clearly denoting as the night Stiles was speaking of being during their break-up. That didn’t matter to his heart though apparently, but he did his best to control himself so Stiles could answer his question.

“I like to call them ‘Kiki’s gang’. Don’t worry about it, I really don’t think it was a romantic thing...Then again...” He trailed off, remembering that Kiki did kiss him. Even if it was on the temple. He snorted and waved his hand dismissively. “Well anyways, don’t worry about it." There’s not much that can compete with you. I think you might be tied with curly fries on my interest scale, but that’s a different story.” Derek nodded, giving Stiles’ hand a squeeze.

“If you really don’t think I’ve got anything to worry about, I’ll try not to.” he said, still a little irritated. He let go of Stiles’ hand to turn the radio back on, putting it on CD as soon as he noticed it wasn’t on that setting anymore. He knew Stiles had messed with the radio based on that, but he didn’t bother asking. The song he ended up settling on was Let You Down, leaving the volume low. He pulled his cigarettes out from his jacket pocket as he drove, smacking the top of the pack against his thigh a few times before pulling at the cellophane with his teeth. He finally managed to get it open one-handed, taking one out before he put it in the little cubby, lighting it up and tucking the lighter next to his cigarettes before he cracked the window.

“Oh my god, you’re jealous. You are totally jealous.” Stiles grinned, finding it kind of awesome that he had managed to cause someone to be jealous. He also couldn’t help but really enjoy the way that Derek refused to let go of his hand. “So uh....I’m still laughing about my dad thinking that I was blowing you in your car.” He soon piped up after a few moments of thinking. Derek snorted a little, shaking his head.

“You’re thinking about blowing me is what you’re thinking about.” Derek quipped, a smirk playing at his lips. “But to what you said earlier, yeah. I am a little bit. I can’t help it, I don’t know why.”

“It’s because we’re boyfriends and I’m the pack mom to your pack pups.” Stiles replied simply, shrugging a little before he laughed. “I’m a teenager with ADHD and an overactive imagination, of course I’m thinking about blowing you.” That Stiles could explain his jealousy so easily made Derek sigh, wishing he didn’t have those emotions at all. Stiles wasn’t his mate, or his anchor, just his boyfriend. _Which is probably why I should listen to him..._ he thought. His last relationship had been with Kate and that was a lie, he didn’t know how a real relationship should go and he supposed if Stiles thought jealousy was part of it, then he was right.

“I just hope traffic isn’t bad so we can get to the shop and come back quick.” he said and held his cigarette out the window for a second so the ashes would be sucked off by the wind.

“It shouldn’t be too bad right now, then again it is still around normal lunch hour for people...” Stiles said softly, mostly thinking out loud. “Maybe we could play a game or something?” He suggested. Derek raised an eyebrow, exhaling the drag he’d taken from his cigarette towards the window.

“Like what?” he asked, glancing over at Stiles.

“I have no idea. Maybe...Truth or dare, but with dares that we can do in a car.” He said softly, lifting their interlocked hands so he could kiss the back of Derek’s. Derek nodded, shrugging a little.

“All right, I can manage that I guess. You first though,” he said with a small smirk. “Truth or dare?”

“Let’s start this out safe. I dare you to truth me.” He winked at him. Derek rolled his eyes, taking in a drag from his cigarette as he thought of a question he could ask Stiles. He thought of one almost instantly.

“What did you end up doing with all that honeysuckle I put in your room?”

“I had to get rid of like eighty percent of it so my Dad wouldn’t notice, but I left the rest of it in my room until it got all gross and I had to throw it out.” Derek nodded, laughing.

“I meant it as a thank you, for that night. For sharing with me about your mom.” he said, giving Stiles’ hand a small squeeze. “Your turn, ask me.”

“You’re welcome. Sharing is caring.” He replied with a snicker. “Uh...Truth or Dare?” Derek didn’t like the sound of the conspiratorial snicker Stiles let out, but he decided fair was fair and he’d at least play his round before making Stiles pick a different game. “Dare.” he said, anticipating some sort of “cruel” torment that only Stiles could come up with. Stiles thought about what he could dare Derek to do and before long he started laughing. He covered his mouth with the back of his hand, trying to muffle his laughter and every time he tried to talk, he just started to laugh again.

“I dare you to....Oh god, I dare you to look at someone through the window and make eye contact with them before winking and licking the window.”

Derek rolled his eyes, “You’re ridiculous.” he said, “but then again I’m never one to back down from a challenge.” he said and glanced out his window, there was a car coming up next to them on the highway right now even - Derek so occupied with talking to Stiles he was one of the few people doing the speed limit. As they reached his window he sped up to match them, immediately making them glare over at him.

Derek grinned over at them waving. They flipped him off and he laughed, glancing over at Stiles before taking a breath. Stiles leaned forwards so he could see everything that was happening, unable to believe that Derek was really going to do it. He looked back over to see them yelling at him, waving their arms in a gesture for him to get out of their way. Derek fixed a solid stare at them, winking before making a licking motion at the window and speeding off ahead.

“How was that?” he asked, almost wishing he’d caught the person’s reaction. Stiles, however, _did_ see the shocked faces of the passengers before Derek sped off and he let out an inhuman shrill noise. He quickly began wheezing and letting out a strangled laugh, dropping and smacking his head on the dashboard of the car as his shoulders shook from his laughter. Derek laughed along with him, though clearly not as hard.

“God damn it, are you okay?” he asked through laughter as Stiles smacked his head on the dash. “It’s like every time I make you laugh, you hurt yourself.” he said through chuckles. Stiles covered his mouth with both hands as he felt tears come to his eyes from how hard he was laughing.

“I-I’m fine! I just - Oh my fucking God, the look on their faces!” He cackled.

Derek laughed again at that, “Man, I drove off too quick. I didn’t see. What did they look like?” he asked, holding his cigarette out the window for a second to get rid of the ashes. Stiles started wheezing again before laughing so hard that he started snorting.

“T-They, oh my God! I’m surprised they didn’t crash their car they looked so fucking shocked!” Derek laughed shaking his head.

“God, you should have recorded that.” he said, laughing again. “All right, your turn again. Truth or dare?” Stiles slowly got himself to stop laughing, nodding as he sat back and wiped his eyes.

“Jesus Christ, Derek. Uh, Truth.” 

Derek flicked his cigarette filter out the window, rolling it up before thinking of a truth for Stiles to tell. There were a lot more questions popping into his head now, but he settled on one in particular. “Why did you refuse the Bite?” he asked quietly. “Not that I’m saying you made the wrong decision, I’m just curious.” Stiles lifted his thumb to his mouth and chewed lightly at his thumbnail as he thought about it.

“Can we uh...Skip this question?” He asked softly, feeling more than a little uncomfortable. He tried to push the feeling away, but he just wasn’t sure that he wanted to get into this subject quite yet. Derek slowly nodded, smelling how uncomfortable Stiles was as he had been thinking.

“How about why you picked drums? As far as an instrument to play.” he said, figuring that answer might be easier and a good subject change.

“I’ve always been interested in them and after I took up the guitar, I figured that drums would make an awesome next step.” He gave him a small, grateful smile to show how thankful he was that he didn’t push it.

“So wait, you play the guitar too?” Derek asked, raising an eyebrow. He brushed his thumb in circles against Stiles’ hand, his way of saying ‘you’re welcome.’

“Yeah, a little.” Stiles laughed a little at his surprise. “Maybe I’ll serenade you.”

“Hmmm, you’ll have to play for me sometime definitely.” he said and gave Stiles a smirk. “My turn?”

“I so will. I’m uh...Actually learning something for you. And yeah, truth or dare, Der?” Derek quirked an eyebrow over at Stiles when he said he was already learning something to play for him. He didn’t ask though, figuring Stiles would want it to be a surprise.

“Dare.”

“Oh my God, why?” Stiles groaned as he tried to think of something. “Uh...I dare you to sing the most embarrassing song you know for me.”

Derek groaned, “Define embarrassing.”

“Like a song that you normally wouldn’t be caught dead letting anyone know that you enjoy. Something like that.” Derek sighed, his mind immediately going to all of the songs on his phone and trying to come up with one that he knew was on there that he wouldn’t want Stiles to see. He knew the song immediately that he wouldn’t want Stiles to know about, the band being one that his sister Cora had listened to and he’d always complained but secretly liked.

“Open up my music and find the T’s. It should be the top one, Tatu. It’s the only song by them I have on this.” he said, letting go of Stiles’ hand so he could dig his phone out of his jeans pocket and hand it over. He turned the radio off as he waited. Stiles snickered a little, raising his eyebrows as he went through the music on his phone.

“Oh my God, you listen to Tatu? That is really adorable, Derek.” He said softly before tapping the band name and the song so that the music would play.

“Shut up,” Derek said defensively, sighing heavily through his nose. The familiar beats of the song started and he cleared his throat once before singing along in his own key - because his voice would definitely crack if he tried to hit any of the notes that were actually being sung.

“Is it to late? Nothing to salvage. You look away, clear all the damage.” he sang, not even paying attention to the fact that his voice was forming the words differently, matching the accent of the artist. “The meaning to, all words of love, has disappeared.” he took a breath before the chorus. “We used to love one another, give to each other, lie under covers so... are you friend or foe?”

He kept singing until the song ended and started over on itself, automatically doing so because of his phones’ settings and how he’d had Stiles pick the song. Stiles listened to Derek sing, his jaw dropping again as he started to get a dazed look on his face. He stared at Derek’s mouth shamelessly the entire time and resisted the urge to climb onto his lap and shove his tongue into that mouth. “If you ever tell anyone I like Tatu I will never forgive you.” It took Stiles a few moments to respond when Derek spoke and he slowly tried to snap himself out of his trance.

“Huh? What? Oh, yeah, no worries, that’s fine.” He said softly, not really paying too much attention to what he just said. Derek rolled his eyes, sighing.

“You’re ridiculous.” he said and reached to take Stiles’ hand again, lacing their fingers together where they had been before. “Truth or dare?”

“You’re ridiculous.” Stiles stated before he snickered a little and raised his eyebrows. “I guess I can try one of your dares.” Derek nodded and tried to come up with a dare. He’d assumed Stiles was just going to pick truth again, which he hadn’t minded, so he was a little unprepared. He thought of something after a couple minutes, grinning even though he knew Stiles would probably immediately go against the dare.

“I dare you never to make another dog joke again.”

“Fuck that!” Stiles exclaimed with a laugh. “That is totally and completely impossible, but nice try. I’ll give you a C minus for your effort though.” He said softly as he gave his hand a gentle squeeze.

“I didn’t really expect you to go for it, but I think that technically means you lose.” he said, shrugging. “I haven’t played truth or dare in over a decade.”

“No, no, no, one more! One more round!” Stiles exclaimed, totally having a dare that he really wanted to make Derek do, just this once.

Derek sighed, “All right, fine. Hit me with a dare then.” Derek said, adjusting his back against his seat.

“I dare you to...” he paused, turning a little in his seat so he could let go of Derek’s hand and move his own hand to the back of Derek’s neck. He ran his fingers over his skin and his hair for a few moments before he continued, “I dare you to get something pierced while we’re in San Francisco. I mean, it’ll heal super fast anyways and you can just take it out afterwards.” Derek raised an eyebrow up, slowly looking over at Stiles before forcing his eyes back to the road.

“Can it be anything or did you have something specific in mind?” Derek asked tentatively.

“I’m pretty sure you don’t want me to pick because I’d probably end up blurting out something among the lines of your dick, and I don’t think you wanna go that far. So yeah, anything goes really.”

“Definitely not,” Derek said and smirked as he thought of another place that might be interesting to pierce. “I’ve got an idea for that, but I’m going to keep it a surprise.” He said, grinning over at Stiles. A green sign by the road said they still had another 15 miles to go. “Got any other games to play? We’re almost there, but we’ll still have a bit before we’re going to make it to any of the parlors, even after we get in city limits.”

“Damn it. Well, can I at least hold your little werewolf hand when you get pierced? It will be more for moral support for me so I don’t pass out while watching you.” He snickered before thinking about it. “Well, how about we play ‘I Spy’?”

“I don’t mind.” he said with a laugh. “And sure, though try not to pick stuff that we’re going to pass before I can guess what it is.” Derek said, shrugging. It was fun, just cruising down the highway and enjoying Stiles’ company.

“Alright, I spy with my absolutely gorgeous little eye...” Stiles looked around for something that he could use before he slowly grinned. “Something dark and brooding.” Derek huffed, rolling his eyes.

“Is it me?” he asked with an annoyed tone.

“Very good, Derek. Now....I spy....Something....Grumpy and oh so serious.”

Derek rolled his eyes, “Really, Stiles?” he asked shaking his head and suppressing the urge to laugh.

“Yes, really.” Stiles snickered, turning a little so he could sit at an angle and watch Derek. “This is what happens when you’re stuck in a car with me.”

“You’re a monster,” Derek snorted with a laugh. “A hyperactive, sexually frustrated little monster.” Stiles snorted at that, shaking his head.

“I’m your little monster. I could change the sexually frustrated part right now, if you want.” He slowly grinned at him.

Derek sighed, “And how exactly would you do this while I’m driving?” he asked, wondering if he even wanted to know Stiles’ answer.

“Well, I’m pretty sure that my ‘scrawny’ body wouldn’t need too much room to maneuver myself under your arms and give you one hell of a blow job.” Derek closed his eyes briefly, cursing under his breath.

“I’m driving,” Derek said, sighing in frustration. He was tempted, God he was tempted, but he wasn’t sure he could drive properly if Stiles was doing anything to do with touching his cock at the same time.

“That’s what makes it exciting.” Stiles grinned at him as he got a very mischievous look in his eyes. “I’m a wild one, Derek. I guess that’s why I’ve been running around with wolves. Besides, you’ve got your keen werewolf senses, so I’m pretty sure that you won’t kill us. And if you get too distracted, maybe we can pull over and I’ll finish you off.”

“You’re a terrible influence,” Derek said, feeling a little paranoia creeping into his mind. He checked his mirrors looking for any cop cars, but there weren’t any. His windows were tinted pretty well too, so unless someone was directly looking into the window, they probably wouldn’t see anything. Probably.

“I can see the wheels turning in that broody werewolf head of yours.” Stiles murmured slyly, raising his eyebrows just ever so slightly. “I know you’re thinking about how awesome it would feel, giving me another use for my mouth. And you could be thinking about possibly placing your hand on the back of my head when I would tease you and making me take you in deeper. And maybe, just maybe, I would let you.” He said softly and slowly. Derek let out a sigh that hitched in his chest a couple times on the way out, seriously needing to adjust himself, but not wanting to give Stiles the satisfaction just yet of how much his words were effecting him.

“Just maybe?” he teased back, probably pushing his luck, but not at all caring.

“Mhmm. Just maybe. And just maybe I’d really like it. I mean, I’d take a few moments to make sure I don’t choke on you and ruin the moment, but I’m pretty sure that I would really like taking every single inch that you give me.” A low growl worked its way up from Derek’s chest, letting out a couple quiet heavy breaths before looking over at Stiles. He sincerely had to close his eyes before he could look away back to the road, correcting the minor bit of listing he was doing towards the right.

“At this point if you keep talking I might come anyway.” he admitted, his voice low and husky.

“Really? I could turn you on that much? Oh my god, that’s so _awesome._ ” Stiles laughed a little, feeling pretty proud of himself for having that much of an effect on him. “I’ll have to get you off with just my voice one of these days. But anyways, if we weren’t in a car, I would totally let you fuck my mouth. It sounds like a really good time. And uh, getting back into character, maybe I would really like you forcing me to take you down and listening to you tell me how good I am. I’d love to hear you tell me how I’m doing such a good job and maybe it would get me to keep taking you in as deep as I can. And when you finally come, maybe I would sit back and let you see how I touch myself when I think of you and can’t see you. And just maybe I would let you see how I make myself come and moan out your name, every time.” Derek’s hand tightened on the steering wheel so hard he heard the rip of the leather under his hand, even as he was slowing down and pulling his car off to the side of the road. He shifted the car quickly into park and adjusted his seat back as far as it would go.

“Get over here, now.” he said, reaching out and tugging at Stiles’ shirt to pull him over the console. Stiles felt himself getting way too aroused by the way that Derek was aroused and could only grin and nod as he leaned forwards before kissing him. He tangled his fingers in his hair as he deepened the kiss and nipped at his lip a little hard before he ran his tongue over it to soothe the bite. Derek practically attacked Stiles with his mouth, the need to be closer to him driving his actions entirely. He fisted his hand around the bit of Stiles’ shirt he was still grabbing, sighing as Stiles bit his lip. “Stiles, please...” he said breathily against Stiles’ mouth. He reached down to his jeans, adjusting himself so that he didn’t feel as uncomfortable, the pressure of his own hand making him suck in a sharp breath. He made a mental note to add ‘dirty talk’ to his list of kinks. Stiles pulled away just a little, glancing down at Derek’s jeans for a moment before he slowly grinned.

“Damn, and here I was, thinking about how much I wanted to torture you still.” He said softly but obliged to Derek’s request and undid his jeans for him. He moved slowly, but at least he was doing it. Derek gave him probably the most pitiful look he’d ever given anyone, completely at Stiles’ mercy. He was relieved when Stiles finally _moved_ , letting himself lean back against his seat so he was nearly lying down. He never took his hands off of Stiles the entire time, releasing his tight grip on Stiles’ shirt so he could caress the back of his neck instead.

Once his jeans were undone, Stiles shifted his boxers just enough so he could free Derek’s cock from his jeans before he moved enough so he could lean down and slowly lick from the base to the tip. He took a slow breath through his nose to calm himself before he took the head in his mouth and began to lightly suck at him. By the time Stiles had started touching his cock Derek was already gone from the world, his focus narrowing to the sensation of Stiles’ mouth against him, his tongue.

“Shit,” he breathed, his hand tightening on Stiles’ neck a little, brushing his thumb roughly against the base of his neck. Stiles smiled a little to himself as he began to slowly bob his head, pretty pleased with himself right now since he had managed to get Derek like this. He closed his eyes and focused on starting out light and slow, lazily moving his hand over what he didn’t have in his mouth yet.

Once he got used to it again, he began to take him in deeper and slowly picked up his pace. He just barely grazed his teeth along his length, just enough to give a little bit of an extra sensation every now and again. The second Derek felt more than Stiles’ tongue against him, he brought his free hand to his mouth, muffling the strangled high-pitched keening that loosed its way from his chest and out his mouth.

“Oh God,” he whined, clenching his hand into a fist and struggling not to thrust upwards into Stiles’ mouth. “I’m... I’m not gonna last, Stiles,” he said, hating to admit it. He supposed since they were on the side of the road that wasn’t exactly a bad thing, but he still didn’t like it. Derek bit at his lower lip, his hips squirming. He had never thought that teeth during a blowjob was a good thing, Stiles had just showed him otherwise. Stiles let out a low hum to let Derek know that he heard him before he found that he liked the way that his voice vibrated on his cock and continued to do it. He couldn’t stop smiling the entire time, just so thrilled that he had gotten Derek to this point. He decided that he might as well just go with part of what he had said and began to take him in as deep as he could and suck harder at him.

Derek’s eyes slipped shut, closing tightly at the oddly fantastic sensation of Stiles humming while he had Derek’s cock in his mouth. He didn’t know what to do with his free hand so he just gripped at his seat. He could already feel his climax coming, pre-cum leaking out from him. He tried to hold on, tried to wait, tried to make it last just a little bit longer. Stiles ran his teeth along him again as he moved back up so he could run his tongue along the head slowly to lap up the pre-cum before he moved down again. He began to hum again, unable to help himself from drooling a little on him as he tried his best to take all of him in.

“Stiles, fuck,” he gasped, arching his back against his seat. Stiles was taking him in so much that Derek couldn’t stand it, the pressure building behind his balls. “I’m - I’m hmmm,” he groaned between his teeth. He panted out moans, reverse thrusting his ass into the seat. He grunted out in a half-assed warning, moaning out loudly as he came. He pressed his hips down into the seat, hard - his breath coming in quick sharp breaths between his lips. Stiles coughed a little when his mouth was filled even more and tried his best not to choke so he could keep everything as his eyes glazed over from his gag reflex being set off. He furrowed his eyebrows as he focused, slowly pulling off of him and sitting back in his seat as some of Derek’s come dribbled down his chin. He tried to swallow everything though, wiping his eyes with his sleeves as he took slow breaths through his nose.

Derek let his hand that had been on Stiles’ neck slip down as Stiles’ pulled off of him, covering himself up at least with his boxers as he carefully sat up. He pulled at the handle of his seat, the back of it flying up and smacking his back as it stopped before he leaned it back to its usual position. “You okay?” he asked, rubbing his hand along what he could reach of Stiles’ shoulders.

“Yeah, I’m fine.” Stiles smiled at him, wiping his mouth before he stared at Derek as he slowly licked his palm. “I’m actually pretty awesome. I mean, holy fuck, I just did that to you.”

“I definitely owe you for that,” Derek said with a few silent laughs, huffing air out of his mouth. He moved his hand from behind Stiles’ back, wishing more than anything right now that he’d brought something to drink. He substituted a drink for a cigarette, cracking his window a little before he even lit it. “Not gonna lie, that was probably the best blowjob I’ve ever gotten. I feel really bad that I didn’t last, I would have enjoyed seeing how much farther you could get.” Stiles beamed at that, leaning forwards so he could kiss the edge of Derek’s mouth softly.

“Well, I’m glad that I was able to give you the best blow job that you’ve ever had. There’s plenty more where that came from. And you’ll also have plenty more chances to last tonight.” He winked at him, reaching back behind the seat before he grabbed himself a bottle of Mountain Dew Voltage from his bag of junk food.

“Do you want a sip?” He asked as he opened the bottle before taking a swig of the raspberry soda. Derek sighed in relief, accepting the bottle from Stiles and drinking it until the carbonation burned his nose. He ended up handing Stiles the 2/3rds that was left, lazily placing his cigarette between his lips and lighting it.

“I’m gonna say fuck it to turning in those other portfolios.” he said, exhaling his drag and watching the smoke pool around the ceiling before the wind coming through the window cleared it out.

“Good, because I was kind of hoping that you were planning on fucking me instead.” Stiles replied with a shrug, taking the cigarette and the soda from Derek. He took a slow drag of the cigarette before leaning forwards so he could pucker his lips and blow it out the window. Derek chuckled, taking his cigarette back once Stiles was done and holding it between his lips and taking a drag as he fastened his pants back up.

He took it from his lips and exhaled the smoke before speaking again, “BDSM shop, drive home, and then I’m going to fuck you until you can’t walk for at least an hour.”

“O-Oh my God.” Stiles stammered, dropping his head on Derek’s shoulder. “Holy fucking shit, Derek, yeah, that’s totally okay with me.” Derek smiled, laughing silently through his nose.

“I figured.” he said and leaned his head over to rest his cheek against Stiles’ head. He absently reached out to the radio, cranking up the volume a little until he could hear it.

“...and over I fall for you, over and over I try not to!” the speakers played and Derek smirked, tilting his head and pressing a kiss to the top of Stiles’ head. He rested his head back where it was, closing his eyes and just letting his body relax for a few more minutes. Stiles smiled widely at the music, keeping his head on Derek’s shoulder as he took his hand again so he could interlock their fingers. He closed his eyes before and hummed along before he decided that he was going to catch Derek off guard in the best way possible. He slowly sat up, wanting to see Derek’s face when he did it. He took a deep breath, keeping his gaze on Derek. Derek had been relaxing a little too well probably, his eyes being closed and the music and the exhaustion of having just came taking over him. He pulled himself out of it when Stiles moved away, sitting up a little more and looking at Stiles oddly when he took the deep breath. His own breath stilled in his lungs as Stiles started to sing to him, the lyrics that he’d chosen to sing making his chest tighten.

“So many thoughts that I can’t get out of my head, I try to live without you, every time I do I feel dead. I know what’s best for me, but I want you instead, I’ll keep on wasting all my time.” Stiles belted out with the music, putting as much as he could into it as he slowly grinned at him. Derek cupped Stiles’ face in his hands before he could continue and pressed their mouths together, his eyes squeezing tight. He needed to make Stiles shut up, to make him stop - this seemed the best way. He felt like an idiot, like a mess of emotions that couldn’t decide whether to be ecstatic or agitated. He ended up being a mixture of both, breaking the kiss and immediately placing his cigarette between his lips, avoiding looking at Stiles because no, he knew he hadn’t made the point he was trying to get across when he’d kissed him.

Stiles felt his mind break a little when Derek kissed him again, gripping his jacket as he kissed him back and kept him as close as he could before Derek pulled away from him. He stared off into space for a moment before he slowly smiled and climbed onto Derek’s lap while his seat was still pushed back. He straddled his hips as comfortable as he could in the small space and put his head on his shoulder before he closed his eyes. He hummed along to the music and ran his fingers though his hair as he tried to keep them as relaxed as possible. Derek waited a moment before wrapping his arms around Stiles, his brain short-circuiting for a second as he tried to process what had happened.

No, Stiles hadn’t understood - which how could he when after singing what could have been a confession of love, Derek had just kissed him. Derek failed in not letting his agitation seep into his sigh, burying his face against Stiles’ neck. All he had to do was ignore it, Stiles hadn’t actually said anything and all he was doing was getting his heart rate up so bad his chest ached a little. Stiles turned his head so he could gently kiss Derek’s neck, smiling a little as he pulled away so he could rest their foreheads together.

“Hey, grumpy.” he said softly, nuzzling their noses together. Derek exhaled slowly, tossing his cigarette out the window, looking up at Stiles as he spoke. “I think I figured out what it is that you see in me.” He murmured before he paused for effect. “Your dick.” He gave him a dopey grin, snickering at his own dumb joke. He wasn’t sure why Derek was suddenly feeling down, but he knew that he wanted to put a smile back on his face. Derek rolled his eyes as Stiles finished his thought, wrapping his arms tighter around Stiles’ back and resting his face against Stiles’ chest, a smile tugging at his lips. He didn’t bother saying anything, just rubbing his face into the fabric of Stiles’ shirt. Eventually though he had to lift his head up, looking up at Stiles.

“Don’t ever change. Seriously.” he murmured, pressing his face up against Stiles’ neck and kissing him there repeatedly.

“I won’t, I promise. Just as long as you never change either okay? If you do that for me, then we’ve got a deal.” He said softly, closing his eyes before tilting his head to give him more access to his neck. “I like you just the way you are, you’re perfect to me.” Derek huffed a laugh against Stiles’ throat, pressing a few more kisses before nuzzling at a spot where he decided he was going to mark Stiles. He lifted his mouth to the spot, just at the space where Stiles’ neck met his shoulder, straightening his back so he could reach it better. He bit down hard, pressing his tongue flat against the skin and licking as he sucked and pulled. Stiles let out a moan and arched his back at the feeling. He closed his eyes tightly and bit his lip as he shifted a little on his lap.

“God damn it, Derek.” He said softly. “If you keep this up, we won’t be getting to San Francisco, and I’m rather looking forward to our sexual field trip.” Derek just bit down harder, a low growl emanating from his chest before he finally let go. Stiles eyes rolled back for a moment at the feeling of him biting hard as he let out a shaky breath to help calm himself when he felt himself getting hard again. Derek lapped his tongue at the mark, pressing his tongue against the entire area before he swiped it up the side of Stiles’ entire neck, stopping when he reached his jaw line.

“Might want to hop over to your seat then.” he said lowly, rubbing his fingertips against Stiles’ back.

“Ugh, it’s tempting to just stay in your lap.” Stiles stated as he reluctantly climbed off of his lap and moved back to his seat as carefully as he could. “Then again, I did promise that I was going to give you a show.”

“You’ll survive.” Derek chuckled, adjusting his seat so it was in its usual position, fastening his seatbelt. “Buckle up, we’re gonna head straight there.” Derek said, snagging the soda from the cup holder and taking a drink while he waited for Stiles to get settled.

“Mmmmm.” Stiles nodded, reclining his seat so he could lean back and close his eyes for a few moments. “I guess I will. I’m really excited for you to take me back to your place and fuck me though, that’ll be pretty awesome.” He yawned a little. Derek smirked over at him, raising his eyebrows as Stiles seemed to be settling in for a nap. He didn’t comment - if Stiles fell asleep he’d just wake him up when they got to the shop. He leaned over and buckled Stiles in, checking his mirrors and blind spot before pulling back onto the highway. Stiles snickered a little, hearing the click of the seat belt.

“Did you just mom me?” He asked softly, keeping his eyes closed as he let himself start to drift off.

“Go to sleep,” Derek answered back with a soft chuckle, glancing over at Stiles and thinking - not for the first or last time - about how utterly bad he has it for Stiles. It takes them a half hours worth of driving to get to the shop, getting stuck behind a bit of traffic just outside the entrance to the parking lot of the place. It’s on one of the busiest streets in San Francisco apparently, which seems promising as far as quality, but makes Derek cringe when he thinks about how expensive it will be inside. He locates a parking space about a two minute walk from the shop, parking his Camaro there and shutting off the engine. He doesn’t immediately wake Stiles, letting him sleep while he smokes a cigarette and watches the cars on the main road drive past. After he was done smoking he finally reached over to Stiles, gently rubbing his shoulder.


	24. Emporium

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So Felix, the cashier at the Emporium in this chapter and the next, if you need a visual on who he is, he's Felix Dawkins from Orphan Black.

Stiles had dreamt about his mom while he napped, of the park they used to attend. His dream even let him picture a young Derek, someone for his child self to play with while he watched them from afar. It was just a peaceful dream full of happiness, a world where his mom didn’t get sick and Derek’s family didn’t die horribly. A perfect world with no pain.

When Derek shook him, he rolled his head to the side and curled up towards the door. “Five more minutes.” He whispered, moving to rest his head against the door. He quickly lost the dream though and slowly opened his eyes before he sat up and rubbed his eyes. “Are we there yet?” He yawned as he stretched to wake himself up. Derek laughed a little at how Stiles woke up, nodding.

“Been here for about ten minutes.” he said, taking the keys from the ignition and working them into his coat pocket. “You feeling up to going in or do you need a bit to wake up some more?”

“I need a minute.” Stiles said softly, moving to rest his head on Derek’s shoulder as he stared off into space. Derek nodded, reaching down to lace their fingers together. He thought about his dream and slowly moved his arm around Derek’s waist before slowly tightening it. “You know...You were probably a cute kid. Probably grumpy and angry looking, but cute. I think my...” He trailed off, furrowing his eyebrows as he realized what he was about to say. He swallowed a small knot in his throat before he allowed himself to continue. “I think my mom would have loved you.” When Stiles’ scent shifted to one of sadness he sat up and looked at him. That’s when Stiles said what was on his mind. Derek nodded, scowling.

“Mine too. And Laura, no... Especially Laura.” He said with a small smile. It was meant as a comfort to Stiles, hopefully it worked. Stiles smiled a little and nodded as he felt a little better.

“I would have loved meeting them too.” He said softly, looking up at him. He bumped their noses together, swallowing slowly before he smiled at him. “Let’s go to the shop. I wanna see what you have in store for me.”

“Deal,” Derek said and gave Stiles a quick kiss before hopping out of the car and meeting him around the front of it. He pressed the remote of his car twice to lock it, it chirping at him in response before he pocketed his keys. “I had to park a bit from the entrance,” he said and pointed at the sign for the place. It was an inconspicuous sign, considering what the store was, fancy bold black lettering scrawled across it saying ‘The Emporium.’

“The Emporium?” Stiles asked, taking Derek’s hand once he was at his side. “Oh God, I’m so excited and so nervous that I might throw up. I’ll be careful not to throw up on you though, I like you too much to cover you in half-digested Danishes, coffee, and blue Mountain Dew.” He rambled, painting a very colorful image with his words. “Also werewolf semen. That would be bad.”

Derek snorted, before he reached out and wrapped his arm around Stiles’ shoulder, walking with him towards the shop. “Yeah, I would much appreciate not being hurled on.” he said with a smile.

Stiles leaned against him and moved his arm around his waist as he hummed in content. “I’ll try my best not to puke on you. So, am I the first dude you’ve had romantic feelings for?”

“You’re not the first guy I’ve been with, but...” he paused, frowning a little as the memory of Kate came into his mind before he forced it out. “You’re the first guy, yeah.” He said.

Stiles nodded, kissing his cheek quickly. “You’re my first guy too.” He winked at him. “Well....Probably. I mean there was me always asking Danny if he thought I was hot, and maybe I flirted with him a little...But yeah, you’re the first. You’re my one and only.”

Derek snorted, shaking his head. “Man, I wanted to kill you so bad that day.” he said, turning his head and kissing Stiles’ temple. “He’d be so jealous if he knew you were dating me.” he murmured before turning his head back. They were at the doors to the shop, the windows of which were blackened out with very dark tinting.

“I don’t know man, he’d probably think that I was some freak for dating my sexy cousin Miguel. Then again, I mean, if you can’t keep it in your pants, you may as well keep it in the family.” He joked, stopping at the doors before he took a breath. “This is it, goodbye innocence, hello debauchery.” Derek rolled his eyes, shaking his head as he opened the door for Stiles. The second the door was opened his nose was hit with the smells of leather, latex and rubber, masked over by the smell of some form of incense. 

He stepped inside with Stiles, moving his hand down so he could lace his fingers with Stiles’. “I forgot how much these places smell,” he muttered to Stiles.

Stiles laughed a little, gently squeezing Derek’s hand as he leaned against him. “It’s probably especially strong to you.” He said softly before he slowly looked around. “So uh....Domrek, where do we start out? Oh god, that means I’m Subles.”

“God.” Derek said with a snort, shaking his head. “You mentioned shackles so I guess let’s start there.” Derek said, glancing around the room until he spotted a wall that seemed to have what they were looking for. He led the way through the shop, stopping in front of the wall and absently rubbing his thumb against Stiles’ hand as he looked around the selection.

He saw a pair of cuffs that was almost like medieval bracers that were bound together by chain links, open lacing on the sides showed how they were meant to be worn. He frowned, reaching over to them and feeling the material. The outside was leather, the inside was padded and lined with soft cloth. “What do you think?” He asked, not entirely sure if he liked them or not.

Stiles snickered as he followed Derek, looking around at everything curiously as they slowly passed everything. He took the shackles from Derek and ran his fingers around the inside of them. He thought about what it would be like to be tied up and at Derek’s completely mercy and started to feel more than a little turned on by the images he got. “Can we uh...Try putting them on to see what it would feel like?” He asked curiously, glancing up at Derek for a moment.

“Let me see if we’re allowed to. I don’t know the rules of this place,” Derek replied and looked around until he saw someone who looked like they worked there. He waved them over and they nodded before walking to them.

“Can I help you?” The guy asked, the British accent surprising Derek.

“Yes, I was wondering if we are allowed to try certain items on,” Derek said, gesturing vaguely at the wall next to them. The guy’s eyes flicked at the wall and he nodded.

“These items are approved to be tried on, though with the adjustability of this type of item most of them will fit anyone.” The man said and lifted one of the cuffs up before letting his hand fall back to his side. “We have private changing rooms available for free, however a key is needed. Will you be requiring one, sir?”

“Yes, thank you.” Derek replied and the guy bowed a little.

“The keys are kept behind the desk, I shall get one for you. My name is Felix, should you need call for me again.” He said and bowed again before walking off to get them a key.

Stiles stayed behind with the rest of the shackles and other objects, admiring some of the ones that didn’t actually scare him. Some of the shackles worried him, but he just figured to each their own. He glanced back at Derek for a moment, glad that he wasn’t looking at him before he grabbed something off of the rack and hid it behind his back as he returned to Derek’s side.

He kept the object hidden, really excited to try it on for Derek to see how he would react to it. “So, uh, are we allowed to try some of the stuff on?” He asked him curiously as he gently bumped him with his hip.

“Yeah, the guy said he’d bring a key over for us to use one of the back rooms.” Derek said and slipped his hand around Stiles’ waist. Seemingly at the mention of him Felix was striding over to them, twirling a lanyard with a set of keys around his fingers.

“Here you are,” Felix said and handed the keys over to Derek, eyes roaming over Stiles. “Hmm, didn’t peg you for one to like the scrawny ones. Still,” he said and gestured over his shoulder to a set of three doors on the farthest wall of the store. “Pick any room. There are cameras so if you had any ideas forming - don’t. Return the keys when you’re done.” He said and gave Stiles a small smirk and a wink before walking off. Derek glared at him with a low growl in the back of his throat.

Stiles nodded as he gently bumped Derek again. He couldn’t help but grin when Felix winked at him, feeling really proud of himself. “I’m attractive to gay guys.” He stated, wiggling his eyebrows. “It’s okay, remember that I only have eyes for you. That’s why I wear your mark, Wolf Breath.”

“That’s not the point.” Derek said, huffing out a breath. “Come on I guess,” he said and shook his head, turning towards the wall and removing the set of cuffs they’d been looking at.

“You’re so jealous and possessive of me it’s so cute.” Stiles snickered, keeping his surprise hidden so that he could test it when they got to the room. “I’ll take my shirt off so you can test it out better on me. Sound good?”

“I’m not usually.” He said frowning. “I just can’t help being angry when someone does it right in front of me.” Derek said and walked with Stiles over to the middle door. He fiddled with the keys until he found the one marked with a 2, unlocking the door and raising both eyebrows when the room inside was revealed.

Soft red velvet covered a large round pillowed bed in the center of the room, lace black curtains lined the walls. “Jesus.” He whispered.

“It’ll be okay, just remember that you’re the one that gets to fuck me anyways.” Stiles replied before he looked around the room. “Wait a minute, is this a sex room? People have sex in here? What?” Stiles looked really confused, staring at the bed with wide eyes.

“It didn’t seem like it from what Felix said,” Derek said and shrugged. “Besides, I don’t really trust him not to be watching.” He said and pointed to the red light of an active camera in the corner as he stepped inside. He set the keys on the table by the door, pulling at the hanger that the cuffs were attached to so he could get them free.

Stiles carefully stepped behind Derek so that Derek couldn’t see what he was doing and took his shirt off before he began playing with his new toy. “Hey, Derek. How does this look?” He asked, finishing putting on the leather collar with the three rings on it. On the collar, in big white letters it said ‘Good Boy’ on it. “This is actually really comfortable.”

Derek did a double-take when he looked up from the cuffs to turn and see what Stiles was talking about. He hadn’t even notice that Stiles had grabbed the collar.

“Uh...” He said, licking his lips and swallowing a little hard. “That’s really fucking sexy.” He finally managed, tossing the cuffs on the bed and reaching to the collar on Stiles’ neck and feeling along it. “I’d want it to say something else though.”  
“What do you want it to say?” Stiles asked curiously as he placed his hands on his hips. He slowly grinned, really enjoying the way that Derek was liking this. “It’s actually very comfortable, so I’m going to buy myself one. Maybe we can get it customized or something, or we’ll paint it ourselves.”

“Maybe ‘little ferret.’ Or ‘property of Hale.’“ Derek murmured with a smirk. “I’d never let you take it off though.”

“How about no?” Stiles asked with a laugh. “I’m not getting anything that says ‘little ferret’ on it, but I may be persuaded to get a tag that says I’m your property.” Stiles winked at him as he adjusted the collar a little on his neck. “So, are you going to try tying me up or what?”

Derek rolled his eyes, “As you wish.” He said and gestured a hand towards the bed. He walked over to it and sat down, picking the cuffs up from where he’d tossed them onto it and started to loosen the laces on them one cuff at a time. “Sit down,” Derek said, nodding his head to the bed.  
Stiles nodded at that and sat down on the edge of the bed. He shifted a little to make himself more comfortable and slowly grinned at him as he held his wrists out to him. 

“Or do you wanna tie them behind my back?”

“It’s up to you, though since we’re just trying these on... this way might be better.” Derek said, flipping the cuffs around so they were facing Stiles the direction they were meant to be worn.

“I’ll do it your way. We’ll try out different ways as soon as we make sure that they’re actually comfortable.” Stiles smiled up at him.

“All right,” Derek said with a soft smile. He brought Stiles right arm forward, slipping the cuff on over Stiles’ hand. He started tightening the laces, working his way up from the bottom. “Let me know if it’s too tight.” He said.

“No, you’re doing it really good. It’s actually really comfortable.” Stiles said softly, actually really liking it. “Y’know, I actually really don’t mind giving up a lot of control to you. I mean, well, uh, I really trust you.”

“That’s good,” Derek said softly, not taking his eyes off of the cuff as he kept tightening the laces. “That’s something that’s very important in a relationship - even more when it comes to involving anything BDSM. Trusting that your partner won’t go too far, to know your limits and respect them.” He said, tying the lacing at the base of Stiles’ wrist. He brought the other cuff around Stiles’ other arm.

Stiles nodded at that, smiling a little at him as he watched Derek work. “That’s where the safe word comes in right? If I get uncomfortable in any way, I just say that and we try something else, right? Sorry, I’m still really new to the whole BDSM Dom and Sub thing.” He said softly, raising his eyebrows.

“No, you’re right. You remember what yours is?” He asked, he remembered, he’d never forgotten. However, Stiles’ scattered mind could have easily lost it somewhere.

“Mhmm. It’s easy to remember because I’m addicted to your mouth, and the way you taste, which leads to addictions and I have a bit of a sweet tooth, so a sugar addiction and that’s how I remember.”

Derek chuckled, nodding. “Good, mine’s apples. In case you forgot it.” He said, and started lacing up the other cuff.

Stiles slowly smiled at that and bumped their foreheads together gently. “And here I thought it was going to be some rough and tough word like....whips. Or Chains. Or Spike. I should start calling you Spike. You look like a Spike.”

“Would that make you Buffy?” Derek asked with a chuckle, testing the laces before tightening them a little more. “Good?” He asked, waiting to tie them off.

“Oh god, why?” Stiles asked with a laugh. “Okay, I should probably start calling you Fido instead. And yeah, it feels good still. Not too tight but not loose.”

“You started this nickname crap,” Derek said with a laugh. “Don’t get pissy when I turn it around on you.” He said and pulled at the laces after he’d tied them. He did the same with the other and then lifted Stiles’ arms, looking at his handiwork. “Test them out,” Derek said, dropping his hands to his lap.

Stiles snickered a little and gently kissed him quickly before he raised his eyebrows. “So uh, how exactly should we test drive these? What do you think would be best?”

“Just see how well they hold, try and force your arms apart. If I do it they’ll definitely break.” Derek said, crossing his legs in front of him indian-style. Stiles nodded at that and began to test them. His wrists barely budged when he tugged, slowly tugging it harder just to make sure. 

“Yeah, no, these totally aren’t gonna break. I mean, you could break them no problem, but skinny Stiles is stuck in these.”

“They should work then,” Derek said with a laugh. “I’m gonna go ahead and test them too, at least a little. If it starts to hurt, safe word out okay?” Derek asked, resting his hands on the cuffs. He didn’t test them yet, waiting for Stiles to agree or not.

Stiles nodded at that and felt his heart starting to pound in anticipation. “Yeah, okay. I have my safe word at the ready, just in case.” He told him softly.

“Hey, its okay,” he said, lifting his hands and rubbing them up Stiles’ arms. “I’m going to be careful, but the safe word is there if you need it.” He said. “I won’t ever hurt you unless you want it.”

“I know, I trust you.” Stiles said softly, giving him a grin. “Just because I’m nervous doesn’t mean that I don’t wanna do it.” He reminded him as he nuzzled their noses together. “If I don’t like it, I’ll tell you right away.”

“Werewolf hearing,” Derek murmured in his defense. “Anyway,” he said and cleared his throat before wrapping his hands around the cuffs. “Here we go.” He said and started to pull at them. He did it slowly, increasing the force he pulled them apart with little by little. The cuffs held, the chain links taut between the cuffs.

Stiles bit his lip and swallowed hard, trying to relax himself so that he didn’t keep worrying Derek. He slowly balled his hands into loose fists as he watched Derek work on testing them. He stayed quiet as he let Derek do his thing, not wanting to distract him for once.

Derek pulled at the cuffs only for a few moments longer, satisfied that unless he just completely snapped and pulled at them with more strength than he would ever use in the situations Stiles would be wearing them. “They should be fine,” he said, stopping his tugging at the cuffs and bringing Stiles arms up, kissing his palms.

“I’m glad that they passed your test. I’m really starting to like them.” Stiles grinned up at him for a moment. “So we’re at least getting me these and a collar right? I can’t wait to see what else we’re gonna end up with.”

“Yeah,” Derek said and started untying the laces. “Maybe I’ll let you pick something out for me.” Derek said, sounding hesitant because he was. Stiles noticed the hesitation and bumped their noses together. 

“Only if you really help me pick it out so that you’re completely comfortable with it.”

Derek nodded, “I’d like that.” He said quietly, pulling at the cuff he’d unlaced from the wrist up, slipping it off of Stiles’ arm. He examined Stiles’ arm with care, pleased to see that the only marks on it were from where the cloth and padding had left imprints that would be gone in a few minutes.

He did the same with the other one, setting the cuffs on the bed when he was done. “You want to wear this around the shop?” He asked, reaching up and flicking his finger against one of the hoops on the collar.

“It’s like you’ve been telling me, Der, I’m not going to force you to do anything that makes you uncomfortable.” He said softly, bumping their noses together. He liked to think of that as a sort of werewolf way of affection and he liked it. “I want to learn about all of your kinks and have fun with them, because I mean, so far I’m already having an awesome time.” Stiles rubbed his wrists once they were bare, humming in content before he looked up at him again.

He thought about wearing the collar around the store, slowly grinning as he shrugged a little. “Well, what does my dom want me to do?”

Derek nodded, picking at the fabric of Stiles’ jeans for a moment. He looked up when Stiles asked what he wanted Stiles to do and he thought for a moment. “I think I’d like you to wear it, but I just keep thinking about the way Felix was looking at you. I don’t...” Derek trailed off, clenching his jaw. “You are mine, not his. Maybe he’s just a flirt, I don’t know, but he bothers me.”

Stiles cupped Derek’s face in his hands and rested their foreheads together. “I know you really don’t like it, but just remember that I’m not here shopping for things to do with him. I don’t even know the guy, and if he fantasizes about me or something later, more power to him because that’s all he’s getting from me.” He stated, slowly grinning at him. “And besides, the only dick I want anywhere near me sexually is yours.”

“I just don’t want to give him an excuse to do it again. Though he probably will anyway.” Derek murmured, pressing his hands against Stiles and rubbing his face into them. “I’m not used to this jealousy thing.”

Stiles grinned as he felt stupidly excited over Derek’s jealousy. “It’s actually kind of hot. I’ve never had anyone get jealous over me before. It’s making me feel really wanted.”

Derek just rolled his eyes, sighing inwardly as he moved his hands to the collar, unfastening it. “Listen, I’m not going to go all sappy on you, but I want you. All the time, and the hardest thing in the world was after Erica pulled that stunt and I couldn’t do anything. I’ve never...” Derek trailed, gritting his teeth a moment. “After Kate I promised myself I’d never let anyone get close enough to manipulate me like that, but you’ve wormed your way into my life and I’m trying to get used to it.”

“One minute I want to fuck you and then cuddle for hours and the next it’s too much and its like I...” Derek cut off, clenching his hands around the collar. “I’m not good at this, and now I’m babbling and probably sound like an emotionally constipated idiot.”

Stiles placed his hands on top of Derek’s and gently closed his fingers around them. “Derek, I understand completely. I mean, not in an ‘I’ve experienced that too so I understand’ way, but yeah. It’s okay to be freaked out by this. It’s new for me too and I’m a little freaked out myself. But that’s all okay, because that’s what this is all about. God, I’m sounding sappy now.” He groaned a little.

“When it’s too much, just let me know. It’s okay to let me in, Derek, and it’s okay to have me cuddle for hours, but I can understand why you’re cautious about letting me in. But y’know, I’m not going anywhere. You don’t have to be good at this right now, because you’ll get better. We’ll get better. Stronger even.” He slowly lifted his hands and cupped Derek’s face again, smiling widely as he nuzzled their noses together. “So don’t worry so much right now, then again I know you can’t help it, so uh...It’s just okay. I’m just going to keep bugging you until the end of time.”

Derek exhaled slowly through his nose, setting down the collar and shifting around on the bed so he was nearly sitting on Stiles lap. He buried his face into Stiles neck, closing his eyes and just hugging him tightly. There was a tugging feeling in his chest, drawing him towards Stiles and he nearly shivered when he realized what it was. He hadn’t felt that connection since he’d lost Laura, and before her it was his dad.

“I think you’re...” He breathed, his breath catching on the words. He pressed his fingers into Stiles’ back, squeezing his eyes shut. “I think you’re my anchor.”

Stiles slowly grinned as he listened to Derek, resting his head against his as he rubbed his back. He tried to soothe him and help him feel better about revealing something that big, despite how happy it was making him. “The uh...I told you I wanted a triskele to represent my anchors, but I never said what they were. My dad, my friends, and most importantly, you.” He told him softly, holding Derek with a grip as tight as the hold the werewolf currently had on him.

Derek shook against him, tightening his arms as he fought the urge to cry. Stiles was literally the only thing holding him together and yet at the same time, he was the reason he felt like he was one wrong move from just completely breaking down. He didn’t risk opening his mouth to speak, not even knowing what he would say.

Stiles’ smile faded when Derek started to shake and he furrowed his eyebrows as he rubbed his back. “Hey, it’s okay.” He told him softly, trying his best to help him feel better. “I’m here, Derek...I’ve got you.”


	25. Anchored

Derek struggled to inhale as he tried to let the feeling pass, pressing his face harder against Stiles neck. He worked his hands up Stiles’ back and gripped at his shoulders. _‘Shitshitshitshitshit.’_ He thought rapidly, the first sob that pushed its way out his lungs making him shake even harder. The feeling building in his chest tethered him to Stiles so forcefully that it was putting him off kilter.

“Don’t let go.” He breathed, “I haven’t - I haven’t had an anchor and its... I’m-” he laughed out a cry against Stiles’ neck because as much of a mess as he was he was riding a high off of the process.

“I’m not letting you go.” Stiles promised him, fighting the urge to wince when Derek held him tighter. When Derek let out a sob, he could feel his heart nearly break. Just hearing him make that sound filled him with a dull ache that he knew only too well. “It’s okay, Der, I’m right here, and I’m always gonna be here.” He gently kissed his head before he felt himself go back a little in time to when he was a little boy.

His mom had always soothed him when he was upset by singing to him, so maybe it would work with Derek too. “Somewhere, over the rainbow, way up high. There’s a land that I heard of once in a lullaby...” He sang softly to him, beginning to gently rock side to side. “Somewhere, over the rainbow, skies are blue. And the dreams that you dare to dream really do come true...”

Stiles held Derek tightly with one arm and slowly let his other hand lift so he could run his fingers through Derek’s hair and softly massage his scalp. “Someday I’ll wish upon a star and wake up where the clouds are far behind me, where troubles melt like lemon drops. Away above the chimney tops, that’s where you’ll find me.” Derek slowly eased his grip on Stiles, his shaking only hitting him every few seconds as Stiles sang. The connection between them rooted itself the longer Stiles sang, Derek remembering the fact that he was supposed to be doing something with what he was feeling. He tilted his head so he could rest his head on Stiles’ shoulder, concentrating on breathing normally.

His heart rate came down slowly, the tether no longer suffocating him with every breath. He didn’t move from Stiles’ arms though, enjoying the feeling if Stiles’ fingers working against his scalp. He let out a low hum, “You sing nice.” He said, not even caring how stupid that sounded.

“Thanks, I’m glad that I don’t sound like a dying cat or something.” Stiles said softly, feeling more than a little relieved that he was actually helping Derek feel better. “My mom sang that song to me all the time to comfort me, so I’m glad that it works on you too. I’m going to have to keep that in mind from now on.”

“I freaked out, forgetting what I was supposed to be doing. It shouldn’t have been so rough,” Derek said, nuzzling his face against Stiles. “You kept me here.” He said and pulled away so he could wipe at his eyes.

“Derek, it’s okay. It happens to everyone.” Stiles murmured, unable to stop himself from laughing when his face tickled him a little. “I’m your anchor, it’s my job to keep you here.”

“It didn’t happen to Scott, but then again Scott’s... Well, Scott.” Derek said, enjoying Stiles’ laughter. He rubbed his cheek against Stiles more, “Let’s just grab what we got and go home. I want to fuck you and apparently that’s not allowed here.” He murmured.  
“Scott is basically a love sick puppy so there’s that too.” Stiles said softly before he laughed. “Oh God, okay, yeah, sounds good. As long as I can buy a quick bottle of cherry lube. And maybe apple since now all I can think of is your safe word.”

“Sounds good,” Derek said and pressed a kiss to Stiles’ shoulder. “I really hope Felix wasn’t watching that because I’ll never be able to come in here again.” Derek said with a laugh, rubbing the back of his neck.

Stiles couldn’t help but start laughing again, grinning as he rubbed Derek’s back. “Well, the only way to know for sure is if he’s acting weird when we go out there. If not, then crisis averted, we can keep coming here for sex things.”

Derek snorted, shaking his head as he leaned over to grab the collar and the cuffs. “Let’s not waste any more time,” Derek said and shifted his legs around to get up from the bed.

“Oh God, you’re so excited to fuck me.” Stiles snorted as he got to his feet, grabbing his shirt before he pulled it back on. “Well, at least it’s not to the point where you’re slamming me against walls and tearing my clothes off. Although, I’m actually not opposed to that.”

“Don’t tempt me.” Derek said, smirking over at him. He tucked the cuffs under his arm, picking the keys up off the table and opening the door, waiting for Stiles. Stiles beamed at him and grabbed his ass as he walked passed him before he headed over to the lube section so he could grab a couple bottles for the two of them.

Of course, as he looked over the bottles he couldn’t stop himself from grabbing more and more until he had an entire armful of lubes, massage oils, and the like. He wandered back over to Derek, beaming at him. “We’re gonna have so much fun, oh my God.”

Derek sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “We can’t possibly need _all_ of that.” Derek said, letting his hand fall back to his side. “What all do you even have there?” he asked, setting the cuffs and the collar on a nearby display table and looking at what all Stiles was carrying. Honestly he couldn’t argue with Stiles’ taste, but he’d only put applications out that day and wasn’t relying on getting hired in the least.

“I’ll pay for these, if you can pay for this ridiculousness.” He said, gesturing at Stiles’ collection before picking the cuffs and collar back up.

“Of course I’m paying for all of these, I wouldn’t do that to you.” Stiles said with a laugh before he looked down at his items. “Uh, I got a ton of flavored lubes, massage oils, something called ‘Deep throat gel’, pheromone stuff because that sounds like it would be fun, and stuff like that.” He replied, adjusting everything so he could see it better. “I’m going to leave all of this all over your place so the pack sees. Just so you know.”  
Derek snorted, shaking his head. “All right, you little monster, come on.” he said and nodded his head towards the register where Felix was viciously attacking his nails with a file.

“Little monster is actually kind of a cute nickname.” Stiles snickered as he bumped his hip to Derek’s before heading over to the counter so that he could carefully set everything down on it. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed some very naughty suckers and couldn’t stop himself from grabbing a couple of the rainbow colored penis shaped sweets. At least he would be able to entertain himself on the drive back.

“Keys?” Felix asked, glancing up from his nails as he continued to file away. Derek sat the keys on the counter and Felix stopped filing, picking them up and putting the lanyard around his neck. “All right,” he said chipperly. “Well love, how did we do?” he asked, seemingly to himself as he looked at the items Derek set down on the counter. “Not too bad.” he said with a shrug and brought over a barcode scanner to scan the tags.

“How about you then?” He said, looking over at Stiles’ mess of bottles and suckers and... oh God, _the suckers._ “Brilliant,” he said and then seemed to notice that the piles weren’t next to each other very much. “I venture these are separate?” Felix asked and Derek nodded, stiffly. Felix smiled and totaled Derek’s stuff on the register.

“Fifty-seven, seventy-six.” Felix said, announcing Derek’s total. Derek retrieved his wallet and handed Felix the card who quickly scanned it and handed it back with a receipt for Derek to sign. Derek took the pen from by the register, signing away his name - which honestly looked more like a hastily written D and H with some scribbles after each.

“Complimentary bags are over there, if you’d like,” Felix said and pointed to the bags next to the register on the side of the counter. “Now, let’s slide all this over, eh?” Felix asked Stiles. Stiles carefully slid his stuff over, humming lightly as he tried to make it as easy as possible to ring up. Once he had done that, he looked up at Derek and winked at him as he couldn’t stop from grinning.

He was totally planning on using those suckers to his advantage and seeing how long it would take for Derek to have any reaction to it. “Do you want a sucker, Derek?” He asked curiously, moving his arm around his waist before sticking his hand down on of Derek’s back pockets.

“Do you even know what flavor those are or did you just get them because they’re shaped like dicks?” Derek murmured, turning his head so he could raise an eyebrow over at Stiles. He grabbed one of the ‘complimentary’ bags and placed his stuff inside, holding it by the handles at his side.

“Mostly because they’re shaped like dicks. What can I say, my mouth was made to have penis shaped things and actually penises in it.” Stiles winked at him. “I have the perfect lips for blow jobs.” He pointed out, grinning at him and wiggling his eyebrows for a moment.  
Derek clenched his jaw, biting back a smile when he noticed that Felix was quietly laughing at what Stiles had said. He couldn’t stand it anymore. “I’m sorry, was there something my sub said that you thought was funny? Because honestly, none of it was your business.” Derek blurted out and Felix paused in ringing up the last of Stiles’ items, mouth agape as he stared over at Derek.

“Well, I - uhm....” Felix sputtered before swallowing really hard. “Sorry, sir. I’ll just ring these up for you and you can be on your way.” Felix said and quickly scanned up the last two things, totalling it up and hurriedly telling the total to Stiles.

Stiles’ smile faded at that and he stared at Derek with wide eyes. “Hey, Derek, I said that to be funny, so it’s okay that he laughed.” He said softly, taking his hand out of Derek’s pocket before he rubbed his side.

He felt so bad for the poor guy, mostly seeing it as him just being a friendly dude. He kissed Derek’s cheek to help him feel a bit better, taking out his wallet so he could take the cash out. “I’m so sorry.” He mouthed to Felix, feeling a little embarrassed that Derek got so bugged. He’d have to help Derek feel a little better once they were out of the store.

Felix just nodded at Stiles, accepting the money and handing back his change. Derek kept a harsh glare on him the entire time, the only reason he wasn’t flipping out on the guy more was because Stiles, and because the guy reeked of embarrassment and shame. “I’m going to give you a store credit, as an apology for my manners.” Felix said hurriedly, after he’d ripped off the receipt and sat it next to Stiles’ things. He slid open a panel under the counter and moved some things around until he brought up a small black card, offering it to Derek.

“This is for our sister company, it’s more of a club, actually. It’s called Black Dahlias,” Felix explained as Derek took the card from him, looking at it. “Free use of all services for one night, usually only offered to our regular customers. That includes the bar as well, all you have to do is show it at the door. I hope... I am truly sorry, sometimes when I see something I like I just can’t shut my mouth.”

“Clearly,” Derek snapped back, slipping the card into his bag. Felix lowered his gaze, opening his mouth to say something. Derek knew he was being a little irrational, and most definitely over-protective, so he forced himself to be a little nicer. “Your apology is accepted, but if we ever decide to come here again, make sure that tongue of yours keeps your thoughts to yourself.”

“Yes, of course, sir.” Felix said, visibly relaxing. Stiles was thankful that they weren’t being kicked out of the store and actually found it really cool to have an invitation to some sort of club and he was rather excited to check it out with Derek one of these days.

When Derek ‘accepted’ Felix’s apology though, he nearly slammed his head on the counter. He felt so mortified about it and almost wished that he could just vanish for a few moments. “Oh my God, okay, Derek. Let’s go get you outside so you can have a smoke break.” He said softly, motioning Derek towards the door as he began to quickly put his things into one of the bags.

Derek grunted in agreement, helping Stiles bag things up to speed things along. Felix made a movement to help, but thought better of it apparently and instead darted off somewhere into the store. Once things were bagged up and they were ready to go, Derek led the way outside to the car, his cigarettes being locked inside, sitting in the console. He popped the trunk and sat the bags inside, striding around to the side and opening his door, reaching to grab his cigarettes and lighting one quickly.

“God, he pisses me off.” Derek growled.

Stiles groaned as he plopped down in his seat and put his head in his hands for a moment. “Oh my God, Derek, are you going through an alpha male domination crisis?” He asked, looking back over at him as he raised his eyebrows. “Because I’m pretty sure that’s what’s going on here?” He laughed a little, trying to get rid of some of the embarrassment that he had.

“I’m going through a lot of things right now, the main being that you just became my anchor and that’s a big thing to process. Apparently I’m a jealous boyfriend, so you’re going to have to deal for a minute,” Derek said, his agitation slipping into his voice a little. He hadn't liked Felix flirting with Stiles, he hadn’t been completely okay when he’d forced out an acceptance of the guy’s apology, and he certainly still wasn’t calmed down yet. The fact that both of them kind of smelled like the shop didn’t really help.

Stiles’ face softened a little at that and slowly leaned over so he could kiss him softly. He placed his hands on Derek’s cheeks, running his thumbs over his skin gently to try and help soothe him. “Hey...” He murmured as he pulled away. “It’s okay, Derek. It’s okay to be jealous, but you have to be nice. You can’t just be mean to people. If you really, really get jealous and can’t control it, pin me to something and mark me as yours if it’ll help you feel better.”

Derek sighed through his nose, “I can’t make any promises on not getting pissed off, but I think I can manage that last bit.” he said. He leaned forward and brushed their cheeks together. “I’m definitely going to have to get rid of that smell though. You smell like the store.”

Stiles laughed a little and took Derek’s cigarette from him before he took a drag of it before he slowly exhaled through his nose. “So uh, how are we going to get rid of the sent? Also, uh, have you ever heard of that club thing we now have passes to?”

“They had links on their website,” Derek said, hitching a thumb over his shoulder to gesture that he was talking about the Emporium. “From what I understand it’s a sex club. You pay for the rooms, there’s a bar, I don’t know.” He said and chuckled, taking his cigarette back and taking a drag.

Stiles paused at that, raising his eyebrows as he thought about it. “Can we go some day?” He asked curiously as he gently bumped their noses together. “It sounds interesting.”

“If you really want to,” Derek said, raising his eyebrows. “After your birthday maybe we can come back up here. Check it out.”

“Yeah, that sounds awesome. I mean, it wouldn’t hurt to check it out.” Stiles shrugged a little as he took another drag of his cigarette before giving it back to Derek. “Am I starting to smell less like the store now?” He asked as he exhaled out the window.

“A little,” Derek said, brushing his free hand over Stiles’ neck. “Don’t worry about it.” he murmured, scooting closer in his seat and buried his face in Stiles’ neck. “I’ll take care of it.”

Stiles grinned a little and ran his fingers through his hair. “Mmmm. Are you starting to feel any better, Der?”

“Yeah,” he said, he said and scrunched his nose a little as his stomach growled. “Maybe we should find somewhere to eat.”

“If you’re hungry we can stop somewhere.” Stiles murmured as he ran his fingers through his hair.

“In a few minutes,” he said, pulling away just enough to take a drag from his cigarette. He leaned his head against his seat and looked at Stiles. “I like doing this.”

“Like doing what? Being all cuddly with me?” Stiles snickered a little.

“Being with you. Period.” Derek said, smiling softly. “I’m learning to tolerate all the sarcasm and dog jokes - the rest of the time I’m with you makes up for it.”

“Good, I’m glad that you’re getting used to the dog jokes.” Stiles told him softly, bumping their noses together. “I’m super excited to cuddle with you and then for you to take me back to your place and fuck me senseless. Today is going to be awesome, I mean it already is, but yeah.”

Derek hummed, “Let’s get out of here then. I can fix your scent better once we’re back at my place.” he said, bumping their noses together.

“Oh God.” Stiles laughed, shaking his head before he nuzzled against him. “I’m so excited to see what you have in store for me.”

“It’ll be worth the wait I hope.” Derek said with a chuckle, starting the car after he pulled away, cracking the window and tapping the dangerously long bit of ash off of his cigarette. “Seatbelt, don’t make me mom you again.” he said, pulling his own on.

Stiles snorted and sat back in his seat before he buckled himself in. “Happy?” He asked, reaching into his bag before he began going through the lubes so he could taste all of the flavored ones.

“Yes, and I swear to God if you make yourself sick tasting those I’m not cleaning it up.” Derek said, shifting his car into reverse and starting them on the long drive home.

“Do you wanna try some?” He asked curiously, licking it right out of the bottle.

“I’ll stick with picking up a burger somewhere, thanks,” Derek said with a laugh, shaking his head as he looked over at Stiles. They’d spent enough time in the Emporium that the traffic was down to what it normally was for the area. This aided them greatly in getting to a nearby Hardee’s where Derek ordered curly fries and a 1/3rd pound bacon cheeseburger. “You want anything?” Derek asked after the worker asked if that was all for the order.

“Curly fries.” Stiles stated, licking one of the bottles again before he grinned. “I’m going to call this one Sour Wolf. It’s green apple and it’s kind of sour, but good.” He said softly after getting a good taste for it. He remembered Derek licking his nose earlier and leaned over to him before he licked right up the side of his face.

Derek added the second order of fries and the worker gave him the total, telling him to pay at the first window. “I’ll have to try it in a min-oh my God, Stiles!” He said, his sentence cutting shot as Stiles licked up his face. “Why?” He asked, wiping at his face and then wiping his hand on his jeans.

Stiles cackled at that, finding that the best possible reaction to that. “I’m showing you werewolf affection.” He smirked at him before licking his face again.

“That’s not - ugh, oh my God,” Derek said with a laugh, wiping at his face again. “One more time and you’re gonna have a war on your hands.” Stiles paused at that and thought about it for a few moments before he cupped Derek’s face in his hands and began to lick him again, trying to get as much slobber as possible on him.

“That’s it!” Derek said and grabbed Stiles’ wrists, licking all over his arms, his hands, pulling him closer to lick at his face and neck until he heard the car behind him honking. He laughed, sighing, “Looks like we’re in the way.” He said, hoping Stiles was done, at least for now.

Stiles started laughing when Derek started to lick him, trying his best to squirm out of his grasp. “Holy shit!” He cackled, wiping the saliva off of himself. “I didn’t know you were into that sort of thing, Wolf Breath.”

“I’m not into it. Not like that. You started it,” Derek said, and let go of Stiles’ wrists to pull forward to the window, digging out his wallet while the worker inside talked over their headset a moment before opening their window and accepting his credit card.

Stiles snickered and leaned towards Derek so that he could brush their cheeks together. “Now I probably smell like dog breath, huh?” He asked, poking his side just to spite him.

“You smell like my breath, which honestly is not the best right now,” Derek said with a snort.

“Here you are!” The worker said as they reopened the window and handed Derek a receipt and his card. Derek thanked them and pulled forward to the next window where the worker there immediately opened the window and handed out a large bag. Derek took it and handed it to Stiles, rolling his window up before pulling into a parking space next to the exit.

“So with your possessive wolfy emotions, what if I smelled like other people? Like what if after lacrosse practice I smell like my teammates. Does that sort of thing set off your spidey senses?” He asked curiously, opening the bag immediately so he could began shoving fries into his mouth until it was completely filled.

“I’m jealous when I have reason to be,” Derek said and laughed when he saw how stuff Stiles’ cheeks already were with fries. “You look like a chipmunk.” He said, snagging the bag from him just long enough to get his burger out before handing it back.

Stiles paused in chewing his food and furrowed his eyebrows before he puffed his cheeks out as best as he could for him. “Tha one bette’ no’ schtick.” He said around the mouthful of food.

Derek had to take a second to decipher what Stiles had said, chuckling when he did as he opened up the box for his burger. “How about titmouse then? Or shrew? There’s a lot of different species of weasel and rodent I can choose from.” He said, raising his eyebrows over at Stiles as he took the first bite of his burger. He hummed in happiness at the combination of beef, cheddar and bacon.

Stiles shook his head, chewing slowly before he finally swallowed. “I’m pretty sure I’m not a shrew. Or a mouse. I’m something wicked awesome and fierce. Like a shark. Or a platypus.”

“What about a badger? Cute, fluffy, but if you piss it off - watch out.” Derek said and shaped his fingers into a claw shape before going back to his burger.

“Maybe I’m a badger.” Stiles said thoughtfully, nodding slowly before he leaned forwards and bit right into Derek’s burger.

“Hey!” Derek said around his food, pulling his burger away and nearly choking when he noticed that the act had left Stiles with a very cheesy strip of bacon hanging out of his mouth. “You thief.”

Stiles crossed his eyes for a moment so he could see the bacon before he slowly chewed it. He grinned up at Derek, winking at him. “I’m totally a shark.”

“Sharkbait,” Derek said after he’d finished his mouthful of food, still leaning against his door so Stiles couldn’t eat any more of his burger.

“I like to think of myself as Jailbait, but thank you.” Stiles replied, winking at him before he went back to nibbling at his curly fries.

“God, please _never_ say that again. Seriously, I don’t need the reminder that you’re not even 18 yet.” Derek said, closing his eyes tightly before looking over at Stiles.

Stiles snickered at that, shrugging his shoulders as he leaned his seat back a little. “Well, I mean, my dad didn’t kill you or arrest you, again, so I think it’ll be fine. And in a lot of states, as long as the age difference is up to seven years it’s fine.”

“That is only mildly comforting,” Derek said with a huff, taking a vicious bite out of his burger and chewing sulkily.

“Looks like the big bad alpha is cradle robbing Little Red.” Stiles snickered, enjoying this way too much.

Derek did choke on his burger that time, coughing for a solid minute before clearing his throat a few times. “Enough, please,” he said hoarsely, setting his burger down and reaching for Stiles’ soda still in the cup holder. He took a drink, clearing his throat again after. Stiles grinned at Derek’s reaction, raising his eyebrows a little before he got an idea. He took Derek’s CD out of the radio and put it in his CD case before putting another one in. He pressed the ‘skip forward’ button repeatedly before stopping on the song he wanted and turned the stereo up.

A soft melody began to play through the speakers before a girl’s voice began to sing along to the tune. “Hey there Little Red Riding Hood, you sure are looking good. You’re everything a Big Bad Wolf could want.” Stiles softly sang along, his grin growing more as he stared at Derek the entire time. Derek rolled his eyes, resigned to the fact that it was probably unsafe to eat around Stiles right now. He huffed a silent laugh through his nose, reaching over and grasping Stiles hand that hadn’t been digging into greasy curly fries.

Stiles interlocked their fingers, humming along to the music for a moment. “Y’know what? I’m declaring this our song. Well, one of them anyways.” He said softly before he grinned at the next part of the song.

“What big eyes you have, the kind of eyes that drive wolves mad. Just to see that you don’t get chased, I think I oughta walk with you for a ways. What full lips you have, they’re sure to lure someone bad...” He trailed off, leaning over so he could gently brush his lips against Derek’s.

Derek snorted, wondering just how many songs Stiles had applied to them. Then again Derek had decided that a lot of Three Days Grace had a ridiculous similarity to how he felt about their relationship. He listened to Stiles sing to him, a small smile on his lips already when Stiles kissed him. He lifted his free hand to cup the side of Stiles’ face, holding Stiles there and kissing him a little more roughly than Stiles had kissed him.

Stiles smiled widely against his mouth, moving his hand up so he could rest it on the back of Derek’s neck. He slowly pulled away and rested their foreheads together as he hummed in content. “You’re the cutest Big Bad Wolf in the world. I’d start spouting out the actual Red Riding Hood lines to fuck with you and piss you off, but with the ‘what big teeth you have’ one, I can’t do it because you have the cutest teeth ever.”

“Just wait till you see me as a wolf. You won’t call them cute then,” Derek said with a smirk, nuzzling his nose against Stiles’.

“Mmm, one of these days, you really need to show me what you look like as a wolf. That’s not something you just keep to yourself when it’s so awesome.”

Derek chuckled, “Maybe tonight?” He asked, really wanting to share it with Stiles.

Stiles paused for a moment, taking in the information before he grinned and nodded quickly. “Yes! Totally! Oh my God, that would be so cool!”

“I’ll probably pass out for a while after, it takes a lot of energy out of me. So it will have to be the last thing we do.” Derek said, laughing a little.

“Alright, sounds good. I can’t promise that I won’t fuck with you while you sleep, but I’ll at least stay with you for a little bit so you’ll have someone to cuddle with.”

Derek chuckled, closing up the box to his burger and maneuvering it into the bag so it wasn’t covering Stiles’ fries or his own. He took a fry from the fuller bag, munching on it. “I wish you weren’t grounded, you could just stay the night.”

“My dad has to work late tonight, So I can pretty much spend at least most of the evening with you, as long as I sneak home before he suspects that I’ve been gone all day. God, I’m so glad he has no idea what I have been up to today.”

“Another reason it's probably a good thing you always have some cash on you. Imagine if he saw that on a bill,” Derek said with a sly grin, quirking his eyebrows at Stiles for a second.

Stiles looked down at his bag of flavored lubes for a moment before he slowly grinned and leaned over so he could lick Derek’s cheek again.

Derek scrunched up his nose, wiping at his face before shifting the Camaro into reverse. “This can’t become a habit.”

“Nah, I’ll only bring it out every now and again to piss you off. I figured you’d like it, considering you’re half-canine.” He winked at him.

“Mmhmm,” Derek said, pulling out of the space and driving off. “Let me taste that apple one,” Derek said, detangling their fingers and holding out a finger.

Stiles nodded and had to rummage the bag for a few moments before he got it out. He dabbed a tiny bit of it on Derek’s finger before he closed it again. “Hey uh, how do you react to pheromones?”

Derek hesitated in licking the lube off his finger, raising an eyebrow. “Pheromones?” He asked, finally tasting the dab on his finger, shuddering a little at the taste. Nope, not good at all, he thought, wiping his finger on his jeans.

Stiles snorted as he watched Derek, taking his hand against once he was done wiping his hand. “Yeah, I was wondering how your heightened senses reacted to things like that. I’m trying to look at it from a scientific perspective. Okay, slightly scientific, mostly sexual curiosity.”

“I honestly don’t know. I just know what I smell,” Derek said, shrugging.

“Wow, you suck.” Stiles laughed a little, kissing the back of his hand. “Well I’m going to test something next time you have training for all the betas.”

“I’m scared to ask what that may be,” Derek said with a snort.

“It’s just an experiment.” He said softly, shifting a little to get more comfortable. “I kind of wanna nap again.”

Derek nodded, giving Stiles’ hand a squeeze. “Go ahead. I’ll wake you up when we get back.” He said, lifting Stiles hand to his mouth and kissing the back of it.

Stiles nodded at that, finishing his fries off before he set the bag down. “Alright, sounds good.” He said softly, shifting a little to make himself more comfortable before he closed his eyes again.

Derek traced circles against Stiles’ hand with his thumb, humming along to the song that was playing that he actually recognized. After a few minutes Stiles’ hand went limp in his grip and he could hear that Stiles’ breathing had gone just slightly uneven and he knew that he was asleep. He smirked a little, speeding up once he got them back on the highway out and explored the area with his eyes as he hadn’t on the way up. It was beautiful in a way that it reminded him of New York. All the cars, all the people, and especially all the noise of it. It made his chest ache a little, but for once he was okay. He had Stiles now, and God damn if this hyperactive kid didn’t make him wonder already about his choice of anchor.

It had been a subconscious choice, but even still he knew that he had to be careful with him. To watch him and protect him better than he had Laura, better than he had his entire family with Kate. By the time they got to the turn off for Beacon Hills he’d almost missed the turn because of how wrapped up in his own thoughts he was. It had made the drive go between agonizingly slow and over in the blink of an eye for him.


	26. Shapeshift

The sun was hanging low in the sky, still likely having a couple of hours before setting, when Derek pulled up to the warehouse. He gently squeezed Stiles’ hand, turning off the car and leaning over to press a kiss to Stiles temple. “Wake up, Aurora.” He teased with a laugh.

Stiles didn’t really dream this time, his mind mostly just letting his body relax and prepare for the fun that he and Derek had planned out for when they got home. He stirred a little when Derek kissed him, furrowing his eyebrows a little as he rolled his head to the side and away from his mouth. “Mmmmm?” He slowly opened his eyes, furrowing his eyebrows before he slowly looked over at him. “What’s...up?” He asked slowly, rubbing his eyes as he slowly stretched his body.

“We’re back,” Derek said and pointed out the giant warehouse in front of them that was Derek’s home. “I mean, I could have left you in the car, but I figured that would just be mean.”

“If you left me in the car, we couldn’t have sex.” Stiles murmured, closing his eyes again as he tried to slowly wake himself up.

“Exactly why you should wake up,” Derek said with a chuckle. rubbing Stiles’ hair for a second before pulling away. He pocketed his keys and his cigarettes, getting out of the car after pressing the button to pop the trunk.

Stiles let out a groan for a few moments before he slowly climbed out of the car and grabbed his bags so that he could stand behind Derek. He leaned against him and buried his face in his back as he hummed in content. “Has anyone ever told you what you smell like?”

“Tobbacco and cedar, mostly.” Derek said, grabbing his own bag from the trunk before shutting it. “According to Laura I had a ‘very distinct cowboy smell.’“  
“Is that so?” He asked with a laugh, moving his arm around Derek’s waist so he could keep him close. “That’s really interesting. Now I’m picturing you as a cowboy.”

“Never gonna happen,” Derek said with a snort, wrapping his arm around Stiles’ shoulder and starting towards the stairs. “Besides, you clearly like the biker leather look more.”

“I really do. You look sexy in leather.” Stiles stated as he leaned against him. “You’re totally hot and you’re completely mine.”

Derek snorted, but gave his shoulders a squeeze. “Yeah, you’re stuck with me.” Derek said, tilting his head and planting a firm kiss against Stiles’ head.

“I don’t mind being stuck with you for now. You’re an awesome kisser and a great fuck, so you can stay for now. Also you’re the best at cuddling.”

“Speaking of fucking,” Derek started with a cheeky grin and stopped in front of Stiles, picking him up fireman style and starting to carry him up the stairs.

Stiles let out an inhuman noise when Derek lifted him before he started laughing. “Oh my fucking God!” He cackled. 

Derek opened the door, having to slide it open the rest of the way with his foot before he pulled it shut behind them. He carried Stiles upstairs as quick as he could without jostling him too much, tossing his bag on the floor and setting Stiles down on his feet at the foot of the bed. He grinned at him, stepping back so he could take off his jacket and toe off his shoes.

Stiles grinned as he watched Derek, feeling more than a little happy about how excited Derek seemed to be for this. He kicked at his sneakers until he could get them off, mostly just kicking them across the room, before he pulled his shirt over his head and tossed it aside. “So, I’m willing to bet that you’re probably hungry for me right now. I guess you could even say you’re hungry like the wolf.”

Derek let out a short laugh in response, shaking his head as he pulled his shirt off over his head, throwing it on the floor in the same movement. “Not exactly a bet when you’re right,” he said, smirking.

“Oh god. Oh, Big Bad Wolf, what sharp teeth you have.” Stiles murmured, raising his eyebrows. “I would say ‘big’ like the story says, but you have really cute teeth.”

Derek rolled his eyes, looping a finger through the belt loops on either side of Stiles’ jeans and pulling him forward so they were chest to chest. “All the better to bite you with,” Derek murmured with a quiet laugh, leaning his face down and grazing his teeth along Stiles’ jaw line, trailing up to where he jaw connected with his neck and nudging Stiles’ earlobe with his nose as he kissed there.

“Oh my God...” Stiles whispered, closing his eyes as he tilted his head to give him a bit easier access. “Holy fucking shit, it’s kind of pissing me off how you seem to know the fastest way to start turning me on by kissing me in specific places.”

Derek laughed against his neck, “I’m your dom. It’s my job to remember these things.” he said softly, lightly grazing his teeth against his jaw again before kissing the same spot and pulling away to look at Stiles’ face. “Were you wanting to try the cuffs tonight or do you want to save them for another time?” he asked, tilting his head at where he’d tossed the bag.

“I think we should use them at least once tonight.” Stiles said softly, biting his lip and closing his eyes for a few moments as he hummed in content. “It all depends on what you have all planned out for me.”

Derek hummed as he tilted his head back and thought about it, licking and biting at his own lip for a moment. “I think I’d like to try it, definitely.” he said and tilted his head back down to look at Stiles. “Why don’t you be a good boy and sit down. I’ll tell you what ideas I have while I put the cuffs on and you can tell me what you think.”

Stiles groaned a little, only hating a little just how much that just turned him on. “Yes, Sir.” He said automatically, not even noticing that he had just said that. He dropped down on the bed, shifting a little to make himself more comfortable as he kept his eyes on Derek.

Derek grinned to himself as he walked over to the bag, taking out the cuffs and the collar. The card that Felix gave them fell out and he picked it up, tossing it on the nightstand as he walked back over. He sat the collar on the nightstand too, not wanting to use it - it would only block his access to Stiles’ neck. He knelt down on his knees behind Stiles, resting the cuffs in his lap for a moment as he ran his hands along Stiles’ arms. “Will behind your back be all right this time?” He asked.

Stiles nodded at that, glancing back at him for a moment. “Do I need to fold them behind my back?” He asked softly before doing so anyways for him. “If I get too sore or don’t like it or something, I just tell you so?”

“If it gets uncomfortable, you don’t like it, or it feels like it’s getting too much, just safe word out.” Derek said and slipped the cuffs on Stiles one at a time before starting to lace them up. “I’ll stop whatever I’m doing and if we need to adjust or just take them off entirely we will. It’s not a problem.” He said and leaned forward to press a kiss to Stiles’ shoulder.

“Alright.” Stiles said softly, feeling a little nervous again. He smiled a little though when Derek kissed his shoulder and shifted a little as he closed his eyes for a moment. “I think as long as you just keep doing what you’re doing, it’ll be okay.”

Derek nodded and adjusted his legs so he was sitting down more. “I know you’re new to pretty much everything, but this isn’t something you should be scared of.” Derek said softly, smelling his anxiety. “I mean it when I say it’s my job to take care of you. When it comes to bondage especially, if I don’t listen to what you want, what you like and dislike, it’s considered abuse. I’d never do anything like that to you. There’s a fine line between doing that and doing the abuse that you like... the obvious ones being scratching and biting.” He continued, tying off the first cuff and moving to the second.

“That’s why communication is important, why I stress so much about safe words, making sure that what I do is okay and comfortable for you, that you enjoy it.” he said, pausing his hands a moment to lean forward and rest his forehead against the back of Stiles’ neck.

Stiles nodded at that and turned just enough so he could kiss Derek quickly. “Thank you.” He told him softly. “Thank you so much for that. I’m good, I’m just a little nervous. I’m really fine and if I have anything that I don’t like, I’ll tell you as soon as I feel that way. I promise, okay?” He said softly, gently bumping their noses together. “I’m just really excited to see what you’re gonna do to me, and this is my first time really being tied up.”

“Good,” Derek murmured to him, pressing their mouths together for a quick and heated kiss before reluctantly finishing the laces on Stiles’ other cuff. He’d tied them exactly the same now as he had in the store and he tested how they restricted Stiles’ arm movements, letting Stiles’ arms relax whenever any resistance was met. “Now, I’m going to adjust the pillows on the bed and I want you to lie on your back for me. If I can move a pillow somewhere to make it more comfortable, just let me know.” He said and brushed his fingers against Stiles’ shoulder before doing as he said he would.

Stiles nodded at that, testing the binds for a moment before he hummed lightly in approval. “That’s fine. I think mostly just focus them so that they’ll be against my upper back and shoulders. I think that’ll make it so that there’s less pressure on my wrists.” He said softly, tugging at the binds again so that he could test just how comfortable they really were.

Derek nodded, moving one of the pillows he’d placed so when Stiles laid down, there’d be two set up to go under his head and shoulders, the other under his hips. “They still feel comfortable, being around your back now?” he asked, curious.

Stiles nodded at that and carefully moved to lay down. “Yeah, they’re still comfortable. I mean, not as much as they were when I had my hands in front of me, but you get the point.”

Derek helped him lay down, making sure that he laid on the pillows so they were supporting him where they were meant to. “Good, now my plan is to get you ready for me. I’ll stroke you while I bite your neck, maybe refresh some of those marks or add new ones its up to you.” he said, his voice low as he scooted Stiles’ legs apart so that he could press between them and support himself on his arms over Stiles. “Then I’ll play with your ass a little, get you nice and open. And then I’ll fuck you for real.” he finished, punctuating his last sentence by grinding his hips forward a little, smirking down at him. “Does that sound good?” he asked.

Stiles wished that he could cover his mouth so he could hide the low moan that let itself out. He had to close his eyes for a moment before he nodded quickly. “Oh, yeah, that’s totally okay. All of that is totally fine. You can do all of that and more to me, please and thank you so much.”

Derek chuckled, hanging his head as he did before he looked at Stiles. “I’m liking those cuffs already,” he murmured, straightening himself up so he could start to take off Stiles’ jeans and boxers. “I’ve been trying so hard to get you to not keep those sounds to yourself.” he said with a smile as he undid Stiles’ jeans. “Now you won’t be able to help it.” He added, putting his fingers under the fabric and working them off.

“God damn it.” Stiles groaned a little before laughing. “I should have really thought these through. I just really liked the idea of you tying me up and fucking me. I mean, I still do, but you get the point.” He stated, lifting his hips a little to help him out.

Derek grinned as he laughed some more, getting Stiles’ jeans down to his knees thanks to Stiles’ help. He worked them off one leg at a time, setting them on the floor. “Maybe we can find something at the Emporium, next time we go. I’m sure they have something in the way of a mask.” Derek said, undoing his own jeans and slipping them off too.

“Oh, what are you gonna do with that?” He asked curiously, shifting a little as he shamelessly stared at Derek’s body. “Y’know, I’ve been thinking about calling your dick Thor’s Hammer.” Stiles tried to keep his expression serious but soon started laughing.

“A mask with the right design can muffle what you say, but not restrict breathing.” Derek answered, rolling his eyes at Stiles’ comment as he tossed his jeans on the floor next to Stiles’. “I’ve been trying to come up with one for yours, but the ones I come up with are just stupid.” He said and climbed back over to lay next to Stiles, resting his hand on Stiles’ tummy, just inches away from his cock. “I think I could be happy with my dick being called Mjolnir.”

“What about Fenris for yours?” Stiles asked curiously, raising his eyebrows a bit before he squirmed a little. “Oh, so you’re trying to keep me quiet now?” He asked with a laugh before shifting again at his touch. “Y’know,” He murmured, looking down at Derek’s hand before he looked back up at his face. “There are so many better things that you can do with that hand.”

“I don’t know, there’s times that I never want you to stop talking, and others I just want to stick a muzzle on you. So yeah,” Derek said and cuddled up closer to him, smirking against his shoulder when he mentioned that Derek wasn’t doing anything. “Like what?” he teased, raising his eyebrows.

“I’m pretty sure that muzzles are for puppies, not little otters.” Stiles smirked a little at him. “Well, uh...For starters, you could put some of that lube to use and stick a few of those fingers inside of me, or you can use those nails of yours to scratch me up while you bite my shoulders and stuff. Or, you could also do that thing you said that would include your hand being on my dick.”

Derek hummed, exhaling heavily. “Since you asked so nicely,” he said and pressed a kiss to Stiles’ cheek before scooting to the edge of the bed where the bag of lubes and massages oils and whatever else Stiles had gotten was sitting. He dug around until he found the cherry one, deciding definitely to never use the apple kind if he was going to be the one using his mouth anywhere. He went back to Stiles, flipping open the bottle and squeezing some onto his fingers and rubbing it between his fingers and his thumb to warm it up.

Derek decided of the list of things Stiles had suggested, he’d go with the one he’d said he’d do so after he’d knelt down between Stiles’ legs and bent over him to kiss him he lifted Stiles’ dick into his fingers and started to stroke him slowly and lightly.

Stiles let out a whine when Derek touched him and lifted his hips a little as he slowly closed his eyes. “God...” He whispered as he slowly lifted his hips. He squirmed a little as he tugged a little at his wrists and whined a little again.

He kissed Derek deeply and nipped at his lip lightly, rocking his hips up a little against his hand so he could get a little bit more friction. Derek smirked against Stiles’ mouth, moving his hand with Stiles hips so his hands movements and pressure never changed for a second. He hummed against Stiles’ mouth when Stiles bit at him, leaning his head away before closing his lips around Stiles’ left shoulder. Considering the mess of bruises and bite marks on Stiles’ right shoulder, that was clearly what Derek favored and he didn’t want to leave too many marks when there wasn’t very much undamaged skin there anymore. He moved his thumb in small circles at the base of Stiles’ dick, fingers wrapped around the rest of it as he slid them carefully up and down. He sucked at Stiles’ shoulder between kisses and gentle nips.

Stiles cursed against his mouth when he didn’t give him what he wanted, biting his lip in retaliation before he pulled away. When he felt Derek against his shoulder, he let out a low groan and closed his eyes tightly as he shifted a little again. “Oh...my fucking God.” The hyperactive teenager gasped out as he closed his eyes tightly and tried his best to keep still for him. “I just, oh my - Holy, fucking Hell, Derek. Please, don’t ever, ever, stop. Oh, my fucking, God.” He rambled, whimpering a little as he moved his legs around his waist so that he could try his best to him closer.  
Derek let out a low chuckle, sighing sharply when his erection pressed against the fabric and Stiles’ thigh as Stiles brought him closer with his legs. Derek bit down forcefully, pausing his thumb’s motions and just pressing it harder against Stiles’ cock as he brought his hand up slowly, ghosting the pad of his thumb then against the tip.

“You’re such a mess already,” he breathed against Stiles’ shoulder after he’d let go with his teeth, pausing to tongue the imprints. “I wonder how much worse you’d be if I actually did stop.”

Stiles cursed loudly when Derek bit down, throwing his head back as he bucked his hips up. “H-Holy shit!” He exclaimed, closing his eyes tightly so he could stop them from rolling back. “Oh, I would kill you if you did. I would...Uh, find a way to kick your nice werewolf ass.”

Derek chuckled, nuzzling his face closer to Stiles’ neck. “You could try, but I think you’d much rather us doing this.” He said and pushed at Stiles’ legs until he moved them, settling between them and sliding his hand to the base as he placed his mouth over the tip. The taste of Stiles was still there, masked a little by the cherry flavoring of the lube. He sucked gently, pulling a small breath through his nose as he lowered his mouth over Stiles’ cock until his hand was in the way. He pulled back then, his hand following only when he started to bring his mouth back down again. Stiles cursed again and wished that he had his hands free so he could tangle his fingers in Derek’s hair. He licked his lips as he tried to remind himself that he needed to actually breathe. 

“Ugh, fuck.” He whispered, exhaling shakily as he balled his hands into tight fists.

Derek hummed quietly as he sucked on Stiles’ cock, pressing his tongue against the underside and slowing after a moment, pulling his mouth off, but keeping his hands on Stiles’ cock moving so as not to torture him too much. “Fingers?” he asked, flicking his tongue out to lick the head of Stiles’ dick before sucking on him again.

“H-Honestly,” he started, struggling to try to get his thoughts focused right. “I think it would be really great for you to stick that dick of yours right in me. I mean, we fucked this morning, so I am all ready to go in more ways than one...O-Oh God....If you keep sucking me like that, I am going to blow my load so fast that I’ll totally and completely be, uh, embarrassed of myself...Because holy fuck.”

Derek pulled off of Stiles’ cock before he let out a snort and laughed. “We’d be even from earlier,” Derek said, even as he was nodding. “But when you’re right you’re right.” he said and after relocating the lube and warming an amount on his fingers he slicked himself up, biting at his lower lip. When he was done he scooted closer to Stiles, leaning over to press a kiss to his chest, an idea suddenly forming in his head as he did. He moved his lips over to Stiles’ nipple, tracing the edges of it before closing his mouth over it.

As he sucked at Stiles’ nipple he brought his hands to Stiles’ ass, spreading him so he could press his lubed fingers against Stiles’ hole.

Stiles couldn’t stop himself from whining when Derek pulled off of him. “O-Oh for fuck sake, that’s not fair either.” He whispered, shifting his lips a little in protest. He gasped out at the feeling of Derek’s mouth on his chest and tilted his head back again. “Now, that’s really, really...not fair. Fuck you Derek and your fucking mouth...” He breathed out as he closed his eyes tightly.

Derek just laughed lightly through his nose, massaging a finger against Stiles’ hole before pressing it gently inside. He smiled against Stiles chest as he thought of something else he could try and he did, lightly grazing his teeth against Stiles’ nipple. Stiles huffed a little through his nose when Derek laughed, squirming under him again just to spite him. He quickly started cursing again and moved his legs tightly around his waist so that he could at least make some use of his limbs.

“God, you’re even more fidgety when you can’t move your arms,” Derek said after flicking his tongue against Stiles’ nipple. He worked his finger in and out of Stiles’ hole a few times, pressing up to the knucle before pulling it out just enough to start working in another finger.

“I can’t help it...I uh, express myself with my hands.” Stiles mumbled, lifting his hips for a moment in an attempt to get himself in deeper. “So I’m making up for that lack of movement. I could start rolling around...”

“I think that would torture you more than me right now,” Derek chuckled, leaning away from Stiles’ chest and running his free hand along it, feeling the softness of his skin and trailing his fingertips between mole after mole. He seriously hadn’t ever seen anyone with so many moles before. He refocused his attention on his fingers and what they were doing, turning them to the side a little so he could locate Stiles’ prostate. He found it almost immediately, gently probing the tip of his fingers against it

“Nnngn, don’t remind me. Except, pretty sure that you’re uh, torturing me a lot more than I could torture myself right - Fuck!” Stiles exclaimed, bucking his hips and losing his train of thought the moment he touched his prostate. “O-Okay, okay, what do I have to do? What do I have to, uh, holy fucking shit, say to get your dick in me, like right now?”

Derek hummed, grazing his teeth over his lip for a moment before smirking. “You could beg.”

“Oh fuck you.” Stiles groaned out, whining a little in protest for few moments. “I, uh...Please, Derek, I really need your dick in me. I really, really need you to fuck me so hard that I can’t even remember my own name. You promised me that you would fuck me until I couldn’t walk right and I really, really would like that.” He slowly got out, trying to keep his thought process working.

Derek’s lips parted into a wide grin, “As you wish.” He said, carefully slipping his fingers out and after making sure that he was lined up he adjusted Stiles’ legs and lined himself up. He brushed his tip against Stiles’ hole, gently pressing into him. Derek didn’t think he’d ever get over the feeling of it. Of pressing himself into Stiles, or the way that Stiles looked so helpless with his arms cuffed behind his back. “You look so perfect right now.” he breathed.

Stiles bit his lip and furrowed his eyebrows together before he closed his eyes tightly. He tried his best to keep his sounds to himself, but Derek was making it really hard. He soon opened his eyes again and smiled a little at him. “I look perfect all the time.”

“Hush,” Derek ordered, punctuating his point by pushing into him a little faster. Not enough to hurt him, but enough to drive the point home. He sighed happily when he met Stiles’ ass with his hips, rocking against them a little as he put his hands on either side of Stiles’ head on the pillows. He eased out a little, pressing in again as he gently started working himself into a rhythm.

Stiles cried out and bit his lip as he lifted his hips a little. He tried to keep breathing right through his nose, swallowing hard as he tried to focus on Derek. “God, it really fucking sucks not having use of my hands.” He mumbled under his breath, slowly smiling widely as he looked a little dazed.

Derek hummed, keeping his pace. “You okay?” He asked, noting the fact that Stiles was smiling and more than likely was. He still had to ask though.

“Mhmm.” Stiles nodded slowly, moving his hips with Derek’s as best as he could. “More than okay.”

“Good,” Derek murmured, bending his elbows so he could lean down and kiss Stiles’ lips. He thrusted his hips against him, working with how Stiles was moving his own hips. He sighed through his nose, warmth curling in his gut. He moved a hand down to Stiles’ cock, wrapping his fingers around it and stroking him.

Stiles swallowed hard before he kissed him back, lightly biting at his lip so he could try his best to hide his moans to spite Derek. He soon had to pull away and groaned a little as he shifted against the pillows. “Fuck...I’m really...Really probably, most likely going to come soon.” He said quickly, laughing breathlessly before he moaned again. He could feel the way that his insides felt like they were slowly knotting themselves up and the way that Derek was making his toes curl. He gripped the bedding tightly in one hand so he could try to keep some control over himself.

Derek huffed against Stiles’ lips, moaning a little into his mouth. “Not yet,” Derek whispered, forcing himself to stroke Stiles a little slower. At this rate his promises of Stiles not being able to walk a while were going to fall flat if they only fucked once. “If it gets too much let me know, but mmmm,” he paused to sigh out a moan. He wished Stiles’ arms were free, if only to scratch into his back, to bite him, something, anything. “Maybe we could switch places?” he asked, resigned to the fact that this definitely wasn’t as fun as it had been during their foreplay.

Stiles whined in protest when Derek told him that he was going to have to wait and squirmed a little to get his point across. He turned his head enough so that he could get to Derek’s neck and shoulder, pushing himself up the best he could with his arms so that he could bite hard into his shoulder and show him his frustrations.

Derek gasped when Stiles bit him, a low moan loosing from his lips and his hips stuttered ever so slightly. “Mmmm, fuck Stiles, that - oh my God,” he said, thrusting against him a little harder. “More, I need... more, harder, anything I don’t....” He babbled, swearing again under his breath. He reminded himself that he should move his hand on Stiles’ cock, not even realizing that he’d stopped when Stiles had bit him. He started up again, letting his arm drop onto his elbow so Stiles could reach easier.

Stiles cried out against his skin when Derek thrusted harder against him, seeing little sparks of white for a moment before he obliged and bit down harder. He sank his teeth in until he tasted the faint metallic tang of Derek’s blood and let go of him with his teeth so he could move a little up his shoulder and bite down again just as hard.

Derek fell apart at the sensation, the pain being just exactly what he’d needed. He whimpered against Stiles’ shoulder, his head having fell there at some point, he was startled to realize that he hadn’t realized it. The warmth in his gut was pooling there now, his cock already starting to want the release the warmth begged for. His breath hitched in his throat around a moan, muttering curses sporadically. He moved his hand against Stiles a little faster, stroking him harder as he panted out his breaths through his mouth against Stiles’ skin.

Stiles was biting his shoulder again, bucking his hips erratically at the movements as he closed his eyes tightly. He muffled a loud moan as he reached his climax, tightening his legs around Derek’s waist. He accidentally bit down much harder than he had been doing when he was overwhelmed by the feeling of finally going over his edge and he forced himself to let go of Derek’s shoulder when he felt warm liquid trickling down his chin. He wasn’t entirely sure if it was drool or Derek’s blood, but if it was Derek’s, he needed to apologize when his brain was working again.

Derek cried out when Stiles orgasm made him clamp down harder on his shoulder. The pain of it pushed him over the edge, eyes shifting in response as he snapped his head up and swore loudly. It was a lot more pain than he was used to, a lot more pain than he had expected to come from Stiles’ teeth, but it apparently worked because not long after he was coming too. His thrusts were erratic, stuttering to a stop and he had to focus all of his energy on not laying down right there on top of Stiles because he knew Stiles’ arms were still pinned behind him.

“Stiles, oh my - hmmm,” he breathed, having to take a moment before he could gently slip out of him and fall over onto his side laying between Stiles and the wall. He winced as his shoulder stung and burned, looking over at it. It was already healing, but he could tell it had been bad. “God damn.” he breathed, letting his head fall against the mattress.

“Ngnnnn.” Stiles let out an unintelligible whine when Derek pulled away, trying to roll his body so that he could roll over with Derek. He kept his eyes closed as he tried to catch his breath and ignore the blood that was painting his lips and teeth read and the trail of it that went down his face.

“I, uh...” He started when his body was a little more calmed down. “I’m so sorry.” He whispered as he kept his eyes closed.

“No, it’s fine, God Stiles, you look insane right now,” Derek said, brushing his hand against Stiles’ cheek. “Do you want me to clean you up or... God, I don’t even know what to do with this.” he said, running his thumb along Stiles’ chin and wiping at the blood.

Stiles opened his eyes a little so he could look at Derek, looking totally out of it. He squirmed his face a little from Derek’s hand and did his best imitation of the way that Derek growled. Derek sighed and shook his head. “You’re ridiculous,” Derek said, and pulled Stiles closer to him, wrapping his arms around Stiles’ back and pulling at the laces on the cuffs.

“You love it.” He whispered in his exhaustion, burying his face in Derek’s shoulder as he closed his eyes again. “I want these off so I can cuddle the fuck out of my boyfriend.” He mumbled, hooking his leg around Derek’s waist.

Derek chuckled, “I’m working on it, give me a minute.” Derek murmured, getting them unlaced a full minute later. He eased them off, aiming them at the floor as he tossed them. “There, better?” Derek asked.

Stiles nodded tiredly and moved his arm around Derek so he could successfully cuddle him as much as he wanted. “You don’t deny a koala the right to cuddle.” He mumbled to him.

Derek smirked, nuzzling against Stiles’ head. “I won’t argue right now.” he said softly. “How’d I do?” Derek asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Awesome.” He said softly, giving him a thumbs up. “I’m giving it an A plus.”

Derek laughed a little, catching his hand and bringing it to his lips to kiss his knuckles. “Can you tolerate me going away for a moment? I don’t want to, but I should clean ourselves up and you could probably stand to drink a little water at the very least.” he asked, holding Stiles’ hand against his chest.

Stiles debated it for a moment as he watched Derek before he shook his head. “No, you’re mine and I’m not letting go.”  
Derek huffed through his mouth, “Your aftercare is ridiculous.” He murmured, scooting a little closer so that he could lift his head up and press kisses to Stiles’ shoulder. “You did really well though, I mean. You literally saved my ass at the end there.”

“I bit the fuck out of you.” Stiles stated as he raised his eyebrows a little. “How is your shoulder, by the way? Because I probably look like a fucking cannibal right now.”

Derek lifted his head so he could look at it, it was mostly healed by now with just slight little pink-white scars that would be gone shortly. “It’s fine, don’t worry about it. It helped me.” he said, and dropped his head back down to the pillow they were sharing now.

Stiles nodded a little at that and slowly rolled over so he could lay on him. “God, I can’t believe it bit you that hard. Any harder and I might have taken more than just a little blood.”

“Yeah... you’d be more wolf than me if you did that,” Derek joked, shrugging. “Or maybe just a little more Dr. Lecter than is healthy.”

“Would it be cannibalism if you aren’t entirely human?” Stiles asked curiously, burying his face in his chest before he began to wipe his bloody face all over him.

“That.... Y’know actually, I don’t have an - oh my God, Stiles no!” Derek said, gently pushing at his shoulders so he couldn’t make it worse. “That is not appropriate, you should have asked.” He said, scowling as he looked down at his chest.

“Red is your color.” Stiles replied simply as he shrugged a little, unable to stop himself from grinning up at him.

“You should have asked.” Derek repeated, deadpanning at him. He sat up in the bed until he could use the wall to brace himself as he got to his feet, stepping over Stiles as he located his boxers. He slipped them on, leaving for the bathroom, so frustrated that Stiles didn’t understand. Which was honestly why he should have stayed, but he was just so frustrated all he wanted to do was clean himself up and take those few moments to calm down before trying to explain to Stiles what had happened there.

Stiles furrowed his eyebrows a little as he sat up, really not understanding what was going on with that. He shifted a little to make himself more comfortable before he began working his clothes back on. He wasn’t sure what else to do in this situation if Derek needed to cool down from whatever that just was. He scratched at his head as he ran his fingertip over the designs on Derek’s sheets as he tried to think about what he should say or do if he really made Derek angry. He cursed a little under his breath, getting to his feet and heading down so he could stretch his legs a little and give Derek some space for a few minutes if he needed it. He crossed his arms over his chest as he stared down at his bare feet while he wandered around the training area.

 

Derek sighed in frustration as he got to the bathroom, grabbing one of his darker colored towels and wetting it before wiping at his chest and his shoulder. He should have insisted on the clean-up, should have used the blankets, should have done anything or at least made Stiles clean his face up more. He glared himself in the mirror, shaking his head before looking back down to the sink. He shouldn’t be so angry, should calm down. Stiles didn’t know about what was wrong, but he’d laughed - laughed when Derek had said it was wrong, that he should have asked. Derek tossed the towel towards the shower, cupping water from the sink into his hands and splashing it up at his face. He got two other smaller hand-towels for Stiles, wetting one before wringing out the extra water and walking back.

Derek got back to the bedroom and quirked an eyebrow up when the room was empty. ‘Where the hell...’ he thought to himself, quickly scenting him out and following the trail of his scent to the training room. “Stiles,” he said softly when he laid eyes on him, hands holding the towels like a weird peace offering as he walked over to him. Derek didn’t know how to begin, he’d upset him he knew.

Stiles glanced back at him and looked him over for a few moments before he took the towels from him so he could properly clean his face up. He was quiet for a few moments before he looked up at him again. “I’m sorry, Derek. I didn’t mean to upset you.”

Derek nodded, biting at his lower lip a moment. “Do you understand why I got upset?” he asked, “I didn’t intend to flip out like that, I just... I like it when you bite me that hard, I do, but the blood play... that’s not,” he paused, sighing through his nose.

Stiles nodded at that and held the towels in one hand before he moved his other arm loosely around his waist. “I’m sorry, it was really stupid of me. I didn’t think about it.”

“I’m sorry too, I could have been gentler with my reaction,” Derek murmured and wrapped his arms around Stiles, burying his face against Stiles’ neck. “Are we okay?” he whispered.

Stiles nodded as he pulled Derek closer. “Yeah, we’re good.” He smiled a little, happy to see that Derek wasn’t really angry with him. He couldn’t take another fight again when they just got over their last one. “I’ll be more careful from now on.”

Derek nodded against his neck, murmuring a small thank you. “Can we go finish cuddling?” he asked, pulling away enough to look at Stiles’ face.

“Yeah, of course we can.” Stiles snickered, kissing his head quickly before he pulled away. “I’m going to cuddle you so hard.”

Derek snorted, rolling his eyes. “Sounds good,” he said with a smirk, he gestured for Stiles to go ahead of him, glancing around the training room before following.  
Stiles nodded and took Derek’s hand so he could lead the way back to the bedroom, humming to himself. “So what do you wanna do now? Just cuddle?”

“Yeah,” Derek said, lacing their fingers together. “Get a little bit of rest and maybe a cigarette in before I shift for you.”

“Sounds good. I can’t wait to see it.” He grinned at him before he quickly kissed his cheek.

“I just want you to know that I’m kind of large as a wolf,” Derek said quietly. “I don’t want you to be scared when I change.”

“I don’t think I’ll be too scared. I mean, unless you have zero control of yourself.”

“I have control, though I’m definitely a litte more instinct driven.” Derek said and shrugged. “I don’t know, it’s weird. Like half of me is in control, and the other half usually just wants to run into the trees and never come out. It’s dangerous, because if I let go too much it can be permanent.”

Stiles stopped walking and looked really concerned about that. “I don’t know if I want to have you do it then...”

“Stiles, I’ll be fine,” Derek said with a small smile. “I’ve done it before, many times. It’s perfectly safe if I’m careful, which I always am.”

Stiles still looked unsure about it but slowly nodded. “Okay, as long as you think it’ll be fine.”

“I do, and it will, I promise,” Derek said and gave Stiles’ hand a squeeze. Because of how slow they’d been walking they only just got back to the room.

Stiles nodded and set the towels down before he moved his arms around Derek’s waist. He buried his face in his chest and soon smiled widely before he let his body become dead weight.

Derek chuckled, picking Stiles up and turning so his back was to the mattress as he flopped down onto it. “Cheeky little ferret.” he mumbled.

“I like to think of myself as an otter.” Stiles replied, grinning up at him for a moment before he buried his face back in his chest.

Derek snorted, “Think of yourself as an otter all you want, I’m still going to call you a ferret.” he said, rubbing his hands against Stiles’ back.

“If I accepted it, would you change it?” Stiles asked, resting his cheek against his chest as he closed his eyes.

Derek tilted his head as he thought, finally shaking it. “Nope, probably not. I like it too much.”

“Oh dear God.” Stiles groaned before laughing a little.

“What?” Derek asked, chuckling. “It’s better than some of the other names I could have come up with.”

“Well that’s actually probably true. No one knows for sure what goes in that mind of yours. It’s probably gay porn all day.”

“I do _not_ think about gay porn all day,” Derek said with a laugh. “Unless you count you, then yeah I think about gay porn all day.” he said, grinning.

“Oh god, do you have fantasies about me?” Stiles asked with a grin.

“I’d plead the fifth, but that would be answer enough I think.” Derek laughed.

Stiles kissed up his chest, humming in content before he kissed him softly. “Mmmm....It’s okay. I fantasize about you too.”

Derek chuckled, kissing him back softly before squeezing his arms around him a little. “I should hope so. I mean, not that I don’t give you enough to think about without fantasizing, right?” he asked, bumping their noses together.

“You have no idea. I think a lot about you at probably the worst times ever.” He stated, nuzzling their noses together.

Derek snorted, “Now I’m curious. When do you think about me?”

“Nah.” Stiles slowly grinned as he rested their foreheads together.

“Really? You’re not going to tell me?” Derek asked, pouting his lower lip out.

“No, you’ll enjoy it way too much.”

Derek laughed, “Yeah, probably.” he said and lifted his head to brush their cheeks together. “Would you want to let me smoke a cigarette here in a minute? If I lay here too much longer I’ll be too comfortable to get anything else done tonight and I really wanted to show you my wolf side.”

“Yeah, go on ahead.” Stiles said softly, scrunching his face up for a moment before he nuzzled him back. “Mmm. You’re adorable.”

“And you’re adorkable, what’s your point?” Derek asked, chuckling as he sat up a little.

“Did you just call me ‘adorkable’?” Stiles asked with a laugh, clinging to Derek as he moved. “You’re such a butt.”

“Yes I did, now move your cute little ferret ass for a minute so I can get my cigarettes,” he said, brushing his finger against Stiles’ nose.

“Oh I’m totally not letting go now.” Stiles stated, even moving his legs around his waist to spite him.

“Fine,” Derek said, scooting with Stiles to the end of the bed and holding his hands firm around Stiles’ back as he stood up. He located his jacket and wormed his foot under it, kicking it over to the bed before going back and sitting down next to it.

Stiles laughed a little at Derek’s determination, keeping a grip on his body to make sure that he wouldn’t fall off. “Holy shit, this is so much hotter than it probably should be.”

“You’re the one determined to make things difficult,” Derek said with a snort, relaxing his arms around Stiles now that he didn’t have to make sure he wouldn’t fall, turning his coat over until he located the pocket his cigarettes were in and pulling them out. “Besides, it’s kind of entertaining seeing how much you enjoy how easily I can move you around.” he said, flipping open the lid to the pack and pulling one out with his lips.

“What can I say? I obviously seem to have a thing for your strength.” Stiles said softly, resting his chin on his shoulder before he closed his eyes and relaxed. “It’s really, really hot.”

Derek hummed, shifting around so he could dig into his jeans pocket and pull out his lighter. He lit his cigarette, taking the first drag and exhaling it out in a happy sigh, offering it out to Stiles. “I’m just wondering if I should do something special, when I’m as a wolf I can’t talk so, you should suggest something now.”

“What do you mean by special?” Stiles asked before shaking his head at the offering.

“I don’t know, imagine a wolf the size of a horse, what would you want to do?” Derek asked, slipping his fingers around the cigarette and bringing it to his lips, taking a drag.

“Can I call you Fenrir and ride on your back?” He asked curiously.

Derek snorted, “If that’s what you want to do. If the Argents weren’t using my old house as a base I’d say we could go check if that old wolfsbane patch is still good.”

“Maybe I could sneak over and see what I could find?” He suggested.

Derek frowned, thinking about it. Bottom line if Stiles got in trouble he could jump in to protect him, but he didn’t want to ask Stiles to do that. “I can’t ask you to do that, it’s not safe - even if I’m with you.”

“You don’t have to ask me to do it. I’ll go over and do it myself at some point. You’ll never know when~.”

Derek sighed in mildly agitation through his nose. “Fine, we’ll go together. I’m not having you do something stupidly dangerous alone.”

Stiles smiled a little and nuzzled him gently. “I promise I’ll be okay. I’ve been doing this since I could walk.”

“That doesn’t mean I like it,” Derek said, still frowning as he took a drag from the cigarette.

“I know, but just trust in me.”

“It’s not trust in you that’s the problem.” Derek muttered, exhaling the drag over Stiles’ shoulder. “I’d much rather going by myself.”

“Nope, out of the question.” Stiles stated.

“Why do you have to be stubborn when you could easily get hurt?”

“I’m a Stilinski. It’s in my blood to be headstrong and stubborn.”

“I’m learning,” Derek said with a snort. He sighed and leaned his head to rest against Stiles’ chest. “If we go, I want you to follow my lead. Don’t run off unless I’m with you and if anything happens and we get separated, don’t stop until you get to Scott.”

“I can’t promise that I can run that fast and far, but I’ll give it my best.” He said softly.

“Call him to pick you up then,” Derek murmured back, lifting his head and moving his hand to brush his fingers against Stiles’ cheek. “Hopefully nothing will go wrong and all of this worrying is pointless.”

“It’ll be okay. I promise.” He said softly, running his fingers through his hair gently.

“Don’t make a promise you can’t keep,” Derek whispered, wrapping his arms around Stiles’ back, tapping his ashes and nuzzling into Stiles’ shoulder.

“Okay, then how about I promise that I will do my best to make that a promise?”

Derek sighed against his skin, pressing his lips against it for a minute in a long kiss. “That will have to do, I guess.”

“Good.” He said softly as rubbed his back and kissed his head. “It’ll be okay.”

Derek nodded slowly, hiding his face against Stiles’ shoulder, closing his eyes and wrapping his arms tightly around Stiles before pulling away. “Let’s do this,” he said, bringing his cigarette to his lips and taking one last drag before offering it to Stiles for him to finish. “I assume you want to watch the change?”

“Fuck yeah I do.” He replied, taking the last drag before he put it out against the floor. “I’m excited for this.”

“Alright, hop up then, we’ll do it downstairs, more room.” Derek said and slipped his hands down to Stiles’ thighs, patting his right one against Stiles’ leg.

“Just how big are you when you turn?” He asked curiously, placing his hands on Derek’s before leaning forwards to kiss him softly. He soon pulled away and got to his feet before offering a hand to Derek.

Derek accepted his help up, though he didn’t really need it, keeping his hand in Stiles’ as he led him downstairs. “Let’s just say that my inner wolf is a lot bigger than Laura’s was.” Derek said, knowing that Stiles likely would never forget the sight of Laura’s wolf form. He hated that his mind was going there now of all times, so he forced himself to focus. Forced himself to think of what he’d need to do once they got downstairs.

“Jesus Christ.” Stiles breathed out, raising his eyebrows as he looked up at Derek. “That’s awesome as hell.”

Derek chuckled, “Like I said, just try not to freak out.” he said, letting go of Stiles’ hand as they reached the bottom of the stairs. “Take a seat, it’s going to take a minute.” he directed, stepping over to the door and opening it partially, exhaling a nervous breath through his mouth as he rolled his shoulders, shaking his arms out and bouncing on his feet a little as he walked to stand in the center of the room where there was the most clear space.

Stiles nodded and looked over to where Derek told him to go for a moment before he went after Derek and cupped his face in his hands before he pulled him down for a deep kiss to help him feel a little more relaxed.

Derek relaxed at his touch, sighing through his nose. “Thanks,” he said softly, lightly bumping their foreheads. “Come on, I can’t shift with you standing here.”

“Well yeah, but I’m anchoring you.” Stiles smiled at him, staring up into his eyes for a moment before he backed away from him so he could go sit down away from him.

Derek rolled his eyes, bumping their noses together before Stiles had walked off. He opened and closed his hands into fists before he remembered he should probably take his boxers off if he didn’t want to ruin them. He did, tossing them over by the stairs and then stood closing his eyes. “Find the wolf...” he mouthed to himself, taking a deep breath. “Let it out.” He mouthed again, exhaling the breath leaving his chest feeling heavy as he started to shift.

The worst thing about shifting into a wolf wasn’t the pain as his bones shifted around, his teeth clamping together as he stumbled. It was the lack of control once the process started - it’s part of what made the whole thing dangerous because if interrupted, he could be injured even more by that than letting the shift complete itself. He let out a forced grunt, dropping to his knees as his legs started to change and couldn’t support him anymore on their own. His whole body was shaking, long dark black fur sprouting up on every inch of him until there wasn’t any skin left except for the palms of his hands and feet.

The cry that loosed from him when his facial bones began reconstructing themselves was less of a shout and more of a low pained howl, his vocal cords no longer obeying him. He whined nearly constantly, as the process slowed to a finish, his hands now paws bracing himself as a shudder ran through him from snout to tail. He stood there, head bowed low as he recovered, whines exhaling from his throat with every breath. The pain from shifting would go away in a minute, and until then his whole body ached. He slowly lifted his great head, opening his eyes and seeing everything through a deep red filter. He stopped his eyes on Stiles, remembering.

Stiles stayed completely silent the entire time he watched Derek, finding all of this completely fascinating and he was so lucky that he was able to witness something so incredible. He didn’t know what he had done to get the coolest boyfriend in the entire world, but he was never going to regret any of the time that he spent with Derek.

When Derek finally was completely changed, he let out the shaky breath that he had been holding and swallowed hard as he slowly got to his feet. His knees felt a little weak from the shock and the tiny amount of fear that he couldn’t completely get rid of. The hyperactive Stilinski stayed completely silent for once in his life as he took slow steps over to Derek.

He watched his every move carefully, just in case Derek wasn’t in full control of himself and he needed to get away. When he was finally right in front of Derek, he slowly lifted his hand and reached for him so that he could gently scratch behind his ears.

Derek watched Stiles get up, hearing his heart pounding and the faint scent of fear hitting his senses as Stiles stepped towards him. He never took his eyes off of Stiles, breathing in and out slowly through his nose. He blinked his eyes slowly as Stiles reached out for him, twitching his ears a little before taking a small step forward and pressing his head into Stiles’ touch.

Stiles slowly grinned when Derek pressed back, carefully lifting his other hand so that he could pet him and scratch him. “Holy shit, Derek...This is incredible...You’re amazing.” He told him softly.

Derek eased himself down to lay at Stiles’ feet, closing his eyes as he huffed a breath through his nose. He growled lightly in the back of his throat, tilting his head as Stiles scratched him and pressing closer until his head bumped into Stiles’ stomach.

Stiles hummed in content as he moved to sit down beside Derek. He bent down and buried his face in his fur, closing his eyes as he began to gently rub his back.

Derek adjusted his paws under himself, turning his head and resting it on Stiles’ lap. He kept his eyes open, looking up at the window. His wolf wanted to get up and run, to speed through the trees until they were just a blur. He refocused his eyes on Stiles, letting out a small whine and flicking his ears towards them before bending them down against his head.

“God, you’re so huge. I think it really is possible for me to actually ride on your back.” Stiles thought out loud as he admired the massive wolf beside him.

Derek rolled his eyes as best he could, huffing through his nose and moving his head to nudge Stiles with his nose, trying to get the point across for him to stand up. His tail smacked against the floor and he glanced at his back, his eyes being drawn again by the window and the sky outside.

“What do you want?” Stiles asked with a laugh as he leaned down to kiss him right on his nose. “God, even as a wolf, you’re so moody and impatient.”

Derek growled a little at him, getting to his feet and padding over to the door, he squeezed his head through it, pressing his shoulder against it once he was through it enough, pushing it open. He turned back to Stiles, tail wagging like mad. He let out a short whine, padding back over and pressing his head straight against Stiles’ chest, pressing against him.

Stiles laughed a little as he slowly got to his feet. “Okay, okay Grumpy, I’ll take you out for a walk.” He smiled at him as he ruffled his fur before he led the way outside. He stopped at his car for a moment to grab his jacket before turning back to Derek. “Where to, Wolfy?”

Derek followed him outside, bounding ahead of him once they’d cleared the bottom of the stairs. he panted through his open mouth, tongue lolling out a little and he padded around the gravel of the lot a moment before going back over to Stiles. He stretched out his front legs, yawning wide before snapping his mouth closed. He’d forgotten almost what their plan was before Stiles asked him where he’d wanted to go. He padded closer, hunkering down next to him, and looking up at him as he waited.

Stiles watched Derek for a moment, really enjoying to see the actual wolf side of him for once. It was really awesome to get to hang out with a massive wolf. He slowly grinned, moving to climb onto Derek’s back as carefully as he could.

Derek laid down further until his stomach and chest were laying flat on the ground, trying to get down as far as he could so that Stiles could climb on.

Stiles soon got on right and made himself comfortable before he rubbed his back. “Okay, I think I’ve got this.” He said softly, trying to figure out the best way to hold on without possibly pulling Derek’s fur and hurting him.

Derek carefully stood up, he twisted his head to look at Stiles, looking agitated as he licked his tongue at Stiles’ hand, shaking head and trying to get the point across for Stiles to wrap his arms around his neck.

Stiles slowly moved his arms around Derek’s neck, laughing a little when he was licked. “God, you’re supposed to be fierce, but you’re just super cute.”

Derek growled a little and hunkered down before he leapt forward into a run. Running with Stiles on his back was a little weird, but doable and it kept him on track as he sped down backstreets at a decent speed until he hit the trees. From there he broke into a dead run. The trees whizzed past them at a dizzying speed, Derek’s wolf urging him to let out a howl but he refrained. It wasn’t safe and if he did howl he would likely just attract every werewolf in the area from Beacon Hills and even farther.

He darted around trees, breathing heavily through his jaws, jumping every now and again where there was a tree fallen across his path. The scent of the forest greeted him like an old friend, the smell of deer and rabbits, the smell of the trees and the soft earth beneath his feet. He didn’t stop until he reached the preserve, and even then he only slowed to a quick trot. He kept his senses alert, searching the ground for traps and sniffing the air for where hunters had walked through. His ears twitched around, following every sound and discounting things that weren’t threats every time he heard something new.

Stiles kept a hold of Derek as he ran, trying to look around at everything as it passed by in blurs of lights and colors until they were finally out of the city.

He buried his face in his fur when they got to the preserve and listened to Derek’s breathing as he sat up a little and slowly looked around, just in case. His hearing and vision were nowhere near as good as Derek’s in any way, but he had promised Derek that he would try his best to be his most alert and careful and he was going to do his best to stick to that plan.

Derek padded lightly through the forest, skirting the edges of his family’s property. He had to backtrack a few times when he found traps or the scent of other people walking through an area was too strong for his comfort. This meant that by the time they reached the patch of land on the preserve where his family had been growing the plant it was dark, except the light of the moon. This was good for him, it gave him the advantage, but it wasn’t exactly good for Stiles he knew, so before doing anything he sniffed out the area around the ‘farm.’

After wasting about five minutes checking and double checking scent trails, Derek decided they were mildly safe there and he stopped next to the field of overgrown plants, laying down so Stiles could climb off of him. The scent of the plants made his nose itch, the strong smell of that special blend of wolfsbane hitting his senses hard and affecting him a little. Not enough that he was getting a high from it, but they wouldn’t be able to stand next to such a large plot of plants before they’d have some problems.

Stiles climbed off of him and scratched behind his ears as he looked down at all of the plants. He tried to estimate just how much they’d need to take back and how much he could carry without it really affecting Derek to a point they would need to worry about.

He looked around, just in case, before he kneeled down beside the plants and began looking them over curiously before he looked back at Derek. “Nod twice for if I need to bring back a whole plant, once for if it’s just the flowers themselves we need.” He told him softly.

Derek thought about Stiles’ question for a moment, nodding his head twice. He padded around the field, no bigger than ten feet on any side, but grown over so bad that the entire area was a mess of green plants with light purple flowers budding off of them. He was surprised that the crop was thriving so well, even if maybe they were thriving a little too well. He kept his ears perked up the entire time, listening for hunters as he searched the plants for a promising one. He found one that looked semi-decent a few feet away from them and he eyed it carefully, tilting his head to the side. He padded closer and barefully used his paw to separate it from a nearby plant that had tangled up with it. He let out a sharp huff through his nose, looking at Stiles as he started to dig a little at the ground next to it, gesturing that this plant would work.

Stiles was glad that Derek at least knew what to look for and when he started to dig, he moved closer to him before he began carefully digging it out the best he could with his hands. He took the plant out, roots and all before looking back at Derek. “Do we only need one for now?”

Derek nodded, he’d have enough with that plant if they got it transplanted quickly to start a few others, and to make good on his idea for Stiles’ birthday. Something snapped on the ground behind them and he whirled around quickly, hair standing on end as he let out a low growl. An already terrified rabbit sped off into the darkness. Derek stopped growling, hunkering down to the ground as he looked over at Stiles.

Stiles slowly grinned when he saw the rabbit run and shook his head before petting Derek and climbing back onto his back before he kissed the top of his head and held on again. He kept the flower as safe as he could, not wanting to ruin it on the way back.

Derek went back the same way they’d came, remembering where most of the traps were and avoiding them easily. Once they were clear he sped up again, a low howl loosing from him as he did, unable to resist the urge to torment the Argents. They got back to the warehouse unscathed and Derek took the stairs in one leap, padding inside the building and lowering down next to the platform once he was close enough that Stiles could step down onto it.

“You have a pretty awesome howl.” Stiles complimented him as he climbed off of him before he pet Derek’s head again. “Thanks for letting me ride on your back, buddy.” He grinned at him before he went to go put the plant on Derek’s table. Once he made sure it was safe, he went back to Derek’s side and ran his fingers through his fur.

Derek nodded to him, the only response he could give, and looked past him at the plant. They couldn’t leave it like that, but he couldn’t shift back yet. He knew already he’d pass out as soon as he did. He snuffled at Stiles’ tummy before padding off into the warehouse. He climbed on top of the bus for a vantage point and looked in the mess - there had to be something large enough to put the plant in, right?

Eventually he ended up jumping off of it and into the mess of boxes random objects, closing his teeth carefully over what looked to be an old pickle tub, and smelled like it to. He brought it past Stiles over to the table where Stiles had left the plant and nudge the plant into the tub after he’d sat it on the floor with his paw.

Stiles watched Derek, completely confused by what he was wanting until he saw him trying to get the plant in the jar. “Oh.” He said in realization, going beside him and picking it up before he ruffled Derek’s fur. “I’m going to get some dirt for this and then water it for you, alright? Just wait here and I’ll be right back.” He smiled at him before heading outside so he could go to the grassy area near the warehouse.

He dug into the ground with his fingers to loosen up some of the soil before filling the jar a little over two thirds of the way before gently burying the roots of the plant. Once he called it good, he headed back inside and up to Derek’s bathroom so he could water it before going back to the main area to put it on the table. “There we go!”

Derek watched him the whole time, padding alongside him or waiting nearby of he couldn’t fit - like the bathroom. He tilted his head to the right and then left as he examined Stiles’ work and decided that he’d done the same quality work he would have. Derek nodded, letting out a fairly quiet bark.

He padded over to the window, tail brushing up dust and dirt as it smacked repeatedly against the floor. He should change back soon, he should change back soon, he should find a nice deer - _NO._ He shook his head to clear his mind, focusing on Stiles and letting a heavy breath through his nose. He needed to change back now and there wasn’t anything he could do about it.

He looked at Stiles, dragging his paws across the floor to the center of the room again, starting the shift on his way. The shift back was no less painful than the shift to that form was to begin with and he kicked out with his feet as he fell to his side. The wolf in him wanted to curl up and howl but he refused, forcing himself to try and relax and just get through it. The relaxing part was easier said than done and by the end of the transformation he was left shaking on the floor, halfway freezing because of the sudden lack of fur and halfway sweating from having had the fur to begin with.

Stiles found that he rather liked his new furry shadow and almost wished that he could have a pet wolf some day because Derek was rather enjoyable when he was on all fours. That came out wrong.

He watched Derek change back, staying quiet again so that Derek could focus but the moment he was human again, he was back at his side. He took off his jacket and moved it around Derek’s shoulders before he moved his arms around him. “Thanks for showing me that.” He said softly, rubbing his back to help him feel a little better. “Do you need a drink of water?”

Derek nodded, grasping at Stiles’ arms around him as tight as he dared without hurting Stiles. “You’re... Welcome.” He managed, slowly. Using words after being a wolf for a few hours was awkward, like his tongue didn’t want to cooperate.

Stiles gently kissed his head to help soothe him, nuzzling against him. “You did really good, Der.” He told him softly as he let Derek grip him.

Derek forced out a laugh, curling up a little on himself. “Need sleep...” He said quietly, “and pants.”

“Well, I can’t guarantee I can get you into some pants, but I can at least help you get up to bed.”

Derek nodded slowly, his eyes only opening halfway as he carefully sat up. It took a full minute before he felt strong enough again to stand and he leaned heavily on Stiles for support. “Quickly..” He sighed out.

Stiles nodded and moved Derek’s arm around his shoulders so that he could get him upstairs. When they were in Derek’s room, he helped him onto the bed as gently as he could before he pulled the blankets over him. “Do you need anything else?”

“You,” Derek said, tugging lightly at Stiles’ sleeve. “Stay with me.” Derek said. His eyes were completely closed at this point and every move he made was sluggish and weak. He held on though, not wanting to fall asleep until Stiles agreed to stay with him, at least a little while.

Stiles laughed a little at that and nodded as he climbed under the bedding with Derek after he kicked his shoes off. “I think I can stay with you for a little while.” He said softly, moving his arm around his waist. “Just get some sleep, Wolf Breath.”

“Shut up, Stiles...” He murmured, wrapping his top arm around Stiles and pulling him close. He passed out immediately after that, his grip on Stiles easing up until his arm basically was just draped over him.

Stiles snickered a little and kissed Derek’s cheek as he let him sleep. He gently rubbed his back and kept him company for as long as he could before he headed home before his dad could get home and notice that he had been gone for nearly the entire evening. The following morning, he almost didn’t want to go to school since it was right back into the whole Kanima business.


	27. Detention

Before school started, Allison met up with Stiles and Scott in the library, so they could go over a game plan. Due to the cameras, she had to pretend she was browsing the books, taking her tablet out before she slid it through the empty shelf so Scott and Stiles could get it. “Here’s the full translation, Lydia sent it to me last night and she was very, very confused.” She said softly, turning her back to the camera.

“Can’t blame her. What’d you tell her it was for?” Scott asked, going over the added information.

“I told her that we were uh, part of an online gaming community that battles mythical creatures.” She said with a shrug and a smile.

Stiles perked up at that and looked up from the tablet. “I am a part of an online gaming community that battles mythical creatures.” He said softly, raising his eyebrows a little. He was rather good at it too.

Allison paused at that for a moment, but really probably should have expected that of all things from Stiles. “Oh...Well...That’s cool.” She said softly. Stiles slowly smiled at that and looked back down at the tablet.

“So it’s going to be fun to find out who’s controlling Jackson.” He mumbled as he shifted on his feet. “God, he just has to be number one in everything. Apparently especially when it comes to freaky ass monsters.”

“You still need to talk to Lydia about his parents, who they were.” Scott said quietly, turning off the screen for the tablet and putting it away in his bag. “What are you gonna do?” He asked Allison, “I got that test in like fifteen minutes.”

“Yeah, I can do that.” Stiles replied.

“I’m going to talk to Jackson, I’ll try to help him figure out what’s going on. Maybe if we do that, we can get down to the bottom of it.” Allison shrugged a little.

“Are you sure? I don’t like the idea of you talking to him alone while I’m off taking some stupid test.” Scott said, looking at her worriedly. He would honestly skip the test and take failing a year if it meant that he could make sure Allison was okay.

“I’ll be fine, Scott, just focus on taking your test, alright? You need to pass this test and you’ve been studying so hard for it. If anything happens, I’ll get out of there. I promise.” She told him.

Scott sighed, “I just want to make sure you’re okay. If anything happens, anything at all just... just yell for me, or text, anything. I’ll never forgive myself if you get hurt because I wasn’t there.”

“I know, if I need help, I’ll let you know, but you just need to worry about your test. It’ll be okay. I’ll keep an eye on him.” Allison assured him.

Scott nodded slowly, “But who’s going to keep an eye on you...” he muttered, glancing over at Stiles. “I’m just gonna go to Harris’, maybe he’ll let me start early, I don’t know.”

Stiles nodded at that and pat his back. “Don’t worry, I’ll stay close. And good luck on the test, I know you’ll do good.”

“Thanks man,” Scott said and glanced between the shelves at Allison before taking off for Harris’ classroom. Harris wasn’t even there so he sat down next to the door and tried to study a little more, only ending up staring at the words, not even taking them in until Harris was standing in front of him, nudging at him with his shoe.

“Mr. McCall, I do believe this is the first time you’ve ever been early to anything.” Harris said, unlocking the door to his classroom. “Since you seem to be so eager to begin, we’ll get started immediately.” He said and led the way into the classroom, Scott sat down at the desk closest to the door and put his books and the notes he’d borrowed from Stiles and Lydia away. “Here is your test, you have exactly one hour to complete it.” Harris said, holding out a copy of the test. Scott got up from his desk and took the paper, digging a pencil out of his bag.

“Your time begins,” Harris began and waited until the second hand was pointing at the twelve. “Now.”

\--------------------------------

Stiles ventured off to go track down Lydia, trying to stay positive in hopes that she wasn’t still really angry with him over the whole not telling her about Derek right away thing. “Hey! Lydia!” He exclaimed to get her attention as he jogged up to her. “So uh, I need to ask you something.”

Lydia was walking towards her next class, pausing when she heard Stiles calling after her. She started walking again once he’d caught up. “Okay, what is it?” She asked, glancing over at him as she detoured to her locker.

“What happened to Jackson’s parents?” He asked curiously, getting right to the point.

Lydia huffed through her mouth, not having expected that. “It’s not my place to say.” she told him.

“I know, and normally I would never ask that, but uh, what if it was a very serious situation. Like life or death?” He asked her, shrugging his shoulders.

“Look, I’m not supposed to tell anyone,” Lydia said. “I’m sorry, but can’t help you. The answer’s no.”

“But anyone who ever says ‘I’m not supposed to tell’ is really secretly dying to tell someone.” He pointed out, trying to push it a little.

 

“Why don’t you tell me why you need to know so badly?” she asked, glancing at him over her shoulder. “I seriously don’t see how knowing about Jackson’s birth parents is a life or death matter.”

“Call it a morbid curiosity. I want to know if his personality is genetic.” Stiles stated, not really knowing what else to say.

Lydia laughed, shaking her head. “Face it Stiles, you’re not getting any information out of me. Now if you don’t mind, I have a class to get to.”

“Ugh, but it was at least worth a try.” He groaned a little.

“If you say so,” she said, walking a little faster as they neared her class.

After she was gone, Erica, who’d been entertaining herself with watching the whole interaction, walked over and looped an arm around Stiles’ shoulders.

“You know, I could get you the information on Jackson’s parents.” she said, raising her eyebrows at him.

Stiles jumped at Erica’s sudden presence and looked back at her before processing what she had just said. “You would? Wait a minute, how do you know what happened to his parents?” He asked curiously.

“Let’s just say I’ve got a connection, do you want to know or not?” Erica asked, quirking an eyebrow at him. She started walking off, leaving Stiles to follow her or not.

“Of course I want to know.” Stiles replied, following after her.

“Well, my dad is a -” Erica said, cutting short as Scott slammed Jackson through the door of the bathroom, having grabbed his wrist and thrown him through it. He followed Jackson out, punching him in the face a couple of times until Erica pulled him off, getting between him and Jackson and holding onto the latter who was trying to get up to retaliate.

“Scott! Scott!” Stiles exclaimed, quickly moving his arms under Scott’s so he could hold him back from hitting Jackson any more than he already had. Well that sure escalated quickly. Allison ran out after the two of them, trying to calm Scott down as Matt noticed the fight and picked Scott’s tablet off of the floor before looking at the document about the Kanima. He emailed it to himself while they were distracted, wanting to read up more on it later to see what it all said.

“Hey, hey!” Harris shouted from the end of the hall, glancing wide eyed at the mess in the shower room as he strode between them all. “What the hell is going on?” Harris asked, jumping a little as Jackson tried to get free of Erica. “Hey! Whatever this is, enough! Jackson, calm down!” Harris said, looking between them all. Scott wasn’t so much fighting to get to Jackson as just trying to make Stiles let go of him.

“What do you idiots think you’re doing?” Harris asked, hands resting on his hips. “McCall? Stilinski?”

Stiles finally let go of Scott once Harris stepped in, stepping back from him. Matt finished sending the email to himself and looked between the group before he held the tablet back out towards Scott. “Hey, you dropped this, McCall.” Scott glanced over at Matt and muttered a quick thanks, taking the tablet from him.

“Is no one going to explain themselves?” Harris demanded, glaring particularly at Stiles before glancing at the rest of them. “Fine then, detention. For everyone, after school. No exceptions - that means you too, Daehler. Now get back to class, all of you!”

Stiles almost said something, not understanding why Harris looked at him like he was the criminal mastermind. Well, in _this_ situation he wasn’t. He groaned a little, having planned on going to see Derek after school. Well this was just great. He looked to Scott, patting his back in an attempt to help him feel better.

“Let me go,” Jackson said angrily, wrenching at Erica’s grip on him. She let him go, picking at her slightly wet shirt from having been holding onto him for so long.

“Guess we’ll have to talk later, Stiles.” Erica said quietly as she walked over to them, glancing at Allison. “Sit by me in detention, I’ll bring my laptop and tell you what you need.” she said and paused, biting at her lower lip. “Derek will make me ask, what do you need to know this for?”

Stiles motioned for her to follow him so that he could make sure that Jackson didn’t overhear. “We think that if we figure it out, it’ll help with the whole Kanima thing.” He told her softly. “We’re trying to save him, not kill him.”

Erica nodded, “That’s my goal too... I don’t - I don’t want to say anything that will make things harder between you and him so that’s all I’ll say, but... don’t worry about me or the rest of the pack, okay? We’re with you.” she said and pecked a kiss to his cheek before walking off.

“What the hell was that?” Scott asked, clearly confused.

Stiles was thankful that he at least had the pack behind him, even if Derek wouldn’t be happy with it. He was proud to be Pack Mom at times like this. He looked back at Scott, shrugging his shoulders. “She says she can help us figure out what happened to his parents. And also, we have her and the other two backing us up.”

“Maybe it’s just the head trauma, but I don’t understand. They’re Derek’s pack, they should be wanting to help him - not me.” Scott said and looked over at Allison. “I don’t even know what I’m doing here...”

“I think you’ve forgotten who I’m dating.” Stiles pointed out. “I’m the Pack Mom so I think that’s one reason why they want to help us out.”

Allison furrowed her eyebrows together, never hearing about that before now. “Wait a minute. You’re....You and Derek?” She asked, trying to figure out how that happened.

Stiles nodded at that. “Mhmm. Yeah, I know, strange, but I’ve gotten used to him.”

Allison still looked really confused but looked back over at Scott and smiled at him. “Even though I really wish this didn’t just happen, thank you for helping me.” She told him softly, wishing she could just kiss him.

“I told you I’d protect you, though this probably means that I’ve failed that test...” Scott muttered, bringing his hands up to run them through his hair. “I should probably run home and change.” Scott said and looked over at Stiles. “Text Derek, let him know that... that we need to talk. You and him are right, I think. We need to work together.”

“Are you sure?” Stiles asked him curiously, just wanting to make sure that he was fully certain. He pulled out his cell phone, glancing up at him just in case.

“This is getting out of control. I won’t join his pack, but we can at least work together on this. If he agrees that it’s done my way - we try to save him, I know there’s a way, there has to be.” Scott said and gave Allison a weak smile. “Guess I’ll see you in detention.”

“Of course, I don’t want you to feel the need to join his pack.” Stiles assured him before opening his messages. **‘Hey, Der. Hope you slept well. : ) So uh, Scott wants to talk to you at some point.’** He messaged him.

Allison nodded and smiled back at him. “Yeah, I’ll see you there.” She said softly.

**‘I did, thanks. I guess bring him over after school?’** Derek sent back, smirking at his phone. He’d spent most of his morning since waking up trying to get things ready for the full moon on Sunday, or checking the wolfsbane plant they’d retrieved to make sure it was doing alright and would survive being transplanted. It seemed to be doing all right, thankfully, and might even be ready for Stiles’ birthday.

 

Scott nodded and fiddled with the tablet in his hands before locating his backpack and tucking it safely inside. After running home for a change of clothes, he was shocked at the state of his room. It was completely trashed, and definitely hadn’t been that way when he’d left this morning. He put that in the back of his mind, locating some clean and dry clothes and rushing back to the school. He finished up his afternoon classes and met Stiles, Allison and Erica outside of the library where Harris had apparently scheduled for them to have detention.

Stiles leaned back against the wall, almost wishing that they could all just skip out on detention. It’s not like they really did anything wrong. Well, besides Jackson and Scott fighting on school grounds. Harris was just a giant sadist. “Has Derek said anything about the Kanima to you?” He asked Erica curiously while they waited. He was wondering if she knew anything that Derek hadn’t told him yet.

“Just stories. He’s been wanting to get back to his old house, find his family’s bestiary - its just not safe there right now...” Erica muttered back, glancing around for Harris. “Sometimes I think he doesn’t know any more about the Kanima than we do.”

“I can’t say I blame him. It’s not exactly something that any one should ever run into.” He said with a light sigh. “I kind of wish they were completely extinct once and for all.”

“Well, if we can figure out how to cure Jackson, at least he won’t be a problem anymore.” Erica said, wincing. “Well, any more than he used to be.”

“Yeah, but a kanima is supposed to be a werewolf.” He whispered. “It can’t be one until it fixes it’s problems.”

“Well then we just have to figure out what his problem is,” Erica told him, glancing over at Jackson who was messing around on his phone. Harris was walking towards them from the other side of Jackson so Erica leaned away from the wall, focusing temporarily on their teacher.

“Listen up delinquents,” Harris said as he pulled out a set of keys for the library. “You will not speak to each other, you will not even _look_ at each other for the entire hour. Now go and sit down, do... homework or something.” He finished as he opened the door and walked in, holding it open as they started filing in. Jackson walked in first, Erica following in close behind. She sat at the first table with Scott, Jackson took the next with Matt and Allison.

Stiles plopped down at the table across from Erica, completely ready to get into discussing what the hell was going on and what they were going to do about it. He tried to think of a way to get passed the ‘no talking’ rule, since that obviously wasn’t going to work out for long.

“Um, excuse me, Mr. Harris, but I have a restraining order against these losers, they’re not allowed to be within 50 feet of me.” Jackson stated, noticing where Scott and Stiles had sat down.

“All of these losers?” Mr. Harris asked, gesturing at the entire group.

“No, just those two,” Jackson clarified, pointing between Scott and Stiles behind him. Harris sighed and looked to Scott and Stiles.

“Alright you two, sit over there at that table. Remember, no talking.” Harris said, going over to the librarian’s desk and setting his briefcase down, taking out a book and beginning to read. Scott glared angrily over at Jackson who just smirked. He grabbed his backpack with probably more force than was necessary and moved over to the table Harris had told them to move to. Erica looked at Stiles helplessly.

Stiles groaned a little, wanting to hit Jackson upside the head. “Yep, just us two tools.” He stated before glancing back at Erica. “We’ll be back.” He whispered as he moved to sit across from Scott. He glanced over at the table Jackson was at before looking back at Scott. “Okay, take some deep breaths.”

“I’ll be waiting,” Erica whispered back, opening her laptop. She figured that while she was waiting for Stiles and Scott to come up with some sort of plan to get back over to her table, she could get ready for when they did. She thought about using her phone, but she didn’t have Stiles’ number, or Scott’s.

“I’m gonna kill him,” Scott said, hands visibly shaking until he crossed his arms.

Stiles held his hand up, raising his eyebrows at Scott’s change of attitude to Jackson. “No you’re not. We’re saving him, remember?” He reminded him.

Scott glanced over his shoulder at Jackson then looked back at Stiles, shaking his head. “No, Derek’s right, let’s kill him.”

“No, we’re going to find out who’s controlling him and we’re going to save him.” Stiles replied, trying to calm him down. He glanced over at the table, seeing Matt reading something on his tablet before he opened up a bag of popcorn and began to eat it. “Hey...What if it’s Matt? I mean, this whole thing comes back to the video, right?” He whispered to him.

Scott looked over his shoulder at Matt and frowned. Matt was offering a bag of popcorn out to Jackson who declined. Scott looked back at Stiles. “That doesn’t make sense though, I mean Danny said that Matt was the one who found out there was footage missing in the first place.”

“Exactly. He’s trying to throw suspicion off of himself.” Stiles stated with a grin, pretty proud of his detective skills. There was just something about Matt.

“Okay,” Scott said slowly, still not convinced. “Then he sends Jackson after Isaac’s dad, one of the Argent’s hunters, and the mechanic... why?”

“Because...” Stiles trailed for a moment before furrowing his eyebrows and frowning. “He’s evil.”

Scott raised an eyebrow and glanced again at Matt before shaking his head. “You just don’t like him.” Scott said dismissively.

“He just bugs me. I don’t know what it is about him.” Stiles sighed as he leaned back and looked Matt over. “Just look at his face.” He added, seeing it as a mask of pure evil.

Scott sighed, “It’s not Matt.” He said and pulled his hands down his face. “Any other ideas?”

“Uh, no, but we’ll figure something out.” He said with a shrug. “Either way he’s still my number one suspect.”

Scott shrugged, “I don’t know man, I just don’t think it’s him...” he said, his voice trailing as he heard someone’s heart rate spiking suddenly. He frowned, looking around the room until he saw that Jackson seemed to be in pain.

“Hey, you okay man?” Matt asked Jackson as Jackson got up and grabbed his bag.

“I have to go to the bathroom,” Jackson said in response, starting towards the door already.

“Jackson, are you all right? You’re not looking so well,” Harris asked, setting his book down and getting up from behind the desk.

“I just need to get some water.” Jackson replied, leaving the room. Harris glanced between the rest of them.

“No one leave their seat.” Harris ordered, fixing each and every one of them with a harsh stare before following after Jackson.

Stiles watched Jackson go, waiting for Harris to be completely gone before he looked back at Scott. “Let’s get that information.” He whispered to him before quickly moving to Erica’s table so he could sit beside her. “So what happened to Jackson’s parents?”

“Car accident,” Erica said to Scott before looking over at Stiles. “Before we had to break up Scott and Jackson, I was about to tell you that my dad’s an insurance investigator. He was the one who was in charge of the accident report for Jackson’s parents. Every time he sees Jackson drive by in his Porsche, he never fails to comment on the huge settlement Jackson’s going to get once he turns eighteen.”

“Oh are you kidding me? Not only is he rich now, but he’s going to get even more rich when he’s eighteen? There is something completely wrong with that.” Stiles stated, finding that completely unfair.

Erica shrugged, tapping at the keys on her laptop to wake it from sleep mode before typing in her password and bringing up the e-mail she’d found. “My dad saves everything in his e-mail, so while you two were in time out over there I went ahead and found the report.” She said, clicking around the site until the PDF of the report opened up on the screen.

_”Scott McCall, please report to the principal’s office.”_ Mrs. Argent's voice said from the intercoms, interrupting Erica’s search through the file for a moment. She looked at Scott, raising her eyebrows.

“What did you do this time?” She asked and Scott sighed, grabbing his backpack.

“I don’t know,” he said, getting to his feet. “They probably just want to yell at me for what happened in the locker room. I’ll be back.” He said and started off for the office. Erica watched him go and then looked over at Stiles.

“Should we wait for him or...?” she asked.

Stiles shook his head at that. “It’s better to make sure that we get this information before Harris comes back.” He replied, leaning over to get a better look at her laptop for when they got into the email. Or at least he was hoping that her father kept all of the records for them to get into.

Erica nodded, navigating carefully through the police accident report until she found the link to open the Insurance Claim file. She opened it and tapped her finger on her laptop. “Passengers arrived DOA, estimated time of death June 14th, 1995 at 9:26PM...” she read, paraphrasing from what the file directly said since Stiles was reading it alongside her. She glanced up when the door opened behind them, Jackson and Harris walking in. Jackson seemed rattled, sweat beaded up on his face in spots as he walked back to his seat, sitting down. She went back to the file, browsing through it.

Stiles furrowed his eyebrows as he read through the files, trying to see if there was anything that could link Jackson to the person controlling him. “Jackson’s birthday is June 15th.” He told her softly, tapping his fingers on the table for a moment as he raised his eyebrows. He glanced up at Jackson for a moment before looking back down to the laptop. “Did your father put in any more insurance claims, or just this one?”

Erica licked her lips, biting at the lower one as she searched through the files, shaking her head, “Doesn’t look like it, sorry.” She said and closed them all out, shutting down her laptop. “So his parents died on the 14th, and you said his birthday’s on the 15th... that means that they had to - oh my God,” she said softly, looking over at Jackson with a mixture of pity and disgust. “That’s sad and gross all at the same time.” she said with a quiet snort.

“Well, that explains one reason why he’s so fucked up.” Stiles mumbled, feeling a little bad for him at that point. It still didn’t excuse the whole nearly evil thing he had going on. Also the fact that he turned into a bloodthirsty lizard.

“Yeah, I think anyone would be messed up if they knew that about their self.” Erica replied, glancing up as Harris stood from the desk and began putting his things away. Everyone collectively followed suit until Harris saw what they were doing and started laughing.

“Oh, sorry, I didn’t mean to give the wrong impression.” He said, and Erica quirked an eyebrow up, glancing at Stiles. “I’m leaving,” Harris said, putting his hand on his chest before setting it instead on one of the carts that was piled up with books. “You all, however, are not - until every single one of these books has been reshelved.” Harris said with a smile. “Enjoy the rest of your evening.” He said before bowing slightly at them, clearly pleased with himself before leaving. Erica growled under her breath, glaring at the door as it swung shut.

Stiles narrowed his eyes a little as he watched Harris leave, shaking his head before dropping his back into the chair. “Can someone just please cut the brakes in that man’s car?” He asked in exasperation, completely tired of having to deal with such a sadist for a Chemistry teacher. He tried to tell himself he was against letting him die, but it seemed like the more he thought about it, the more Harris became the exception to that little moral rule. “Well, here’s to hoping that we can get this done fast, because I’m not spending another night here.”

Erica chuckled, a light sounding laugh. “Come on, I’ll help you.” Erica said before slowly frowning as Scott walked in the door, looking a little disgruntled.

“Unless you want to work with Allison and Scott, catch them up on everything? I can work alone - or with Matt and Jackson... one of us should probably try and keep an eye on him.” she said, raising her eyebrows.

“I’ll talk to Allison and Scott really fast. Then we’ll get out of here as soon as we’re done with this stupid thing and go to Derek so we can talk more to him about what’s going on.” He told her, smiling a little at her before heading over to Scott and Allison. “So we found out that his parents died on the night of the 14th.” He said softly.

Allison furrowed her eyebrows at that and cocked her head. “Isn’t his birthday...” She started before Stiles nodded and continued.

“It means he was born after his mom’s death, by a C-section. I mean they had to actually pull him out of his mom’s dead body.” He said quietly as he leaned against the bookshelf while Allison started putting the books away.

“No wonder he’s got issues,” Scott whispered, shaking his head as he shelved a handful of books. He wasn’t even bothering to put them where they belonged, just so long as they were on the shelf. He was still thinking about the conversation he’d had with Allison’s mom. As scared as he was of her grandfather and her dad, her mom was by far just as terrifying.

“So was the crash an accident or not?” Allison asked softly as she looked picked up a small stack of books.

“The reports declared it as ‘inconclusive.” Stiles replied with a shrug of his shoulders. “If they were murdered though, it would fit in with the whole Kanima myth. Y’know, murderers.”

“But...Does that go for Jackson or for whoever’s still controlling him?” Allison asked him curiously as she furrowed her eyebrows.

Scott frowned, shaking his head. “We have to talk to him.” he said, squeezing his way past the cart of books they’d been shelving. “We have to tell him,” he said, already heading for where Jackson, Matt and Erica had been shelving books. He knitted his eyebrows together as he saw that there was a book lying open on the floor and he walked towards it, looking down the aisle to see Matt sprawled out on the floor with a cut across the back of his neck. He dropped on his knees as he went over to Matt, checking on him - he was just paralyzed, but that wasn’t much comfort.

Then sparks were flying down over his head and books were crashing down and he reflexively shielded Matt as the books hit his legs amongst shatter pieces of the covering for the light. He was shifted immediately and his first thought was of Allison, but he knew that Erica was the only other one there who could help right now. “Erica!” he shouted.

A couple rows down, Erica was shifting too, roaring in response to the sudden and clear danger. She backed down the aisle, searching the roof as that’s where Jackson had been a moment before, only to end up being attacked from behind. She screamed out as claws ripped into her and she fell to the ground, already paralyzed. Scott was trying to get to her as quick as he could, looking for Jackson the entire time and as he turned at the end of the aisle he was confronted with a half-shifted Jackson.

When the rubble and fragments of the ceiling and glass from the broken lights came down, Stiles quickly pulled Allison down low and protected her with his body so she wouldn’t get hurt. He stayed down with her and kept his eyes closed tightly as he listened to the sounds of the destruction around them.

Allison stayed hunched over and let Stiles cover her, knowing it was better to do that than to run out in the middle of the danger of Jackson’s rampage in the library. She bit her lip as she curled up a bit tighter and couldn’t stop herself from thinking about how much her life had changed in just the time she had been here in Beacon Hills.

Scott stared, frozen in the spot he was standing as Jackson stared back before quickly shoving his arms out at Scott and knocking him back into one of the book carts. Scott coughed a little as he recovered, getting up and darting over to where Allison and Stiles were as he saw that Jackson was just standing off next to the chalkboard, not even bothering with him anymore. Jackson was like a puppet as he lifted his arm to the board, Scott growing even more confused at the chalk in his hands until Jackson started writing, not even looking at the board. He waited, crouched in front of Allison until Jackson finished writing his message and slumped his head over, arm falling to his side.

‘STAY OUT OF MY WAY OR I’LL KILL ALL OF YOU,’ was written on the board and Scott swallowed hard, the message crystal clear. Whoever was controlling Jackson felt like they were getting close and had felt the need to threaten them. And then, as simply as Jackson had written the message, he jumped out one of the windows near the ceiling - leaving them alone in the mess of the library. Scott slowly got to his feet, staring at the board.

Down the aisle where she’d fallen, Erica was conscious, but seizing.

Stiles felt fear twist in his abdomen at the sight of the way Jackson moved, seeing that he really must not have any control when he was he was like this. When Jackson was finally gone, he slowly got to his feet with Allison and stepped closer to the board to see it better.

He turned the corner to make sure Erica was okay before his eyes widened when he saw her convulsing on the floor. “Guys!” He exclaimed, quickly dropping down beside her so he could get her onto her side. “I think she’s having a seizure!” He said urgently.

“Check on her and I’ll check on Matt.” Allison said quickly, going over to the other aisle so that she could make sure that he wasn’t really badly hurt.

“I think we need to get her to a hospital.” Stiles told Scott as he held Erica in his arms.

Scott nodded and went over to Erica and Stiles, kneeling down next to them. “To Derek,” Erica was saying, her hand grasping at Stiles’ shirt sleeve. Scott looked at her, not understanding her preference of _Derek_ over a hospital. “Only to Derek.” she said, her face locked in a grimace.

“Uh... okay, when we get her to the hospital,” Scott began, looking over at Allison through the shelves.

“To Derek,” Erica corrected him, looking up at Stiles. “To Derek.”

Stiles knew why she wanted to go to Derek, since an alpha could probably help her more than the hospital full of humans probably could right now. “It’s okay, we’ll get you to him.” He promised her.

Allison swallowed hard, trying her best to stay calm in this situation. She nodded a little, looking back at him. “Go, it’s okay. I’ll stay here with Matt.” She told him softly.

Scott looked at her confused and got to his feet, striding around to the aisle she was in and kneeling down next to her. “No, Allison - I’m not leaving you again. Not after what happened earlier today and then this.. I-” he closed his mouth before he started to freak out, though he still freaked out in his head.

Allison quickly shook her head at that. “He can’t take her alone, not like this. A-And I have to call an ambulance for Matt, so just go with him.” She said quickly, trying her best to not start panicking then and there.

“Allison,” Scott sighed out. “Please, this doesn’t feel right.”

“It’s okay.” She assured him, trying her best to help him feel better.

“No, it’s not okay, it’s not right,” Scott said, pleading with her.

Allison shook her head at that. “I-It doesn’t mean anything...Just..Please, Scott, go.” She whispered, biting her lip as she looked up at him.

“It doesn’t feel like nothing,” Scott said, looking at her with pained eyes. “Please don’t make me leave you like this.”

“Go.” She told him softly. “It’ll be okay. You need to go and take her, that’s more important.”

Scott clenched his teeth together, looking at her for a long moment before cupping her face in his hands and pressing a kiss to her forehead. It felt like goodbye and he hated it. He didn’t say anything to her as he stood up and went back to the aisle with Erica and Stiles, picking Erica up carefully.

“Let’s go,” he muttered, having to wait for Stiles to go first because he couldn’t get the doors with Erica in his arms.

Stiles quickly got to his feet and grabbed their bags for them so they could get out of there quickly. He pulled out his phone and texted Derek quickly. ‘Erica’s been hurt, we’re coming to your place.’ He sent the message before pocketing his phone and taking his car keys out. Once they got to his car, he opened the door for Scott and moved the seat a little so they could get her in easier.

Once they were all in, he drove straight to Derek’s place, trying his best not to break any of the speeding laws. “Alright, we’re here.” He told Erica reassuringly once they were parked outside of the warehouse, trying his best to keep her comforted.

Derek was waiting outside for them when they arrived, pacing around anxiously until he saw them come into view. He went over to the Jeep before Stiles could even completely stop and opened the door. Scott was sitting in the back with Erica, trying to hold her steady. Derek moved the seat forward and took Erica from him, not even stopping as he headed up the stairs to go inside.

“Derek...” Erica breathed, smiling weakly.

“What the hell happened to her?” he asked.

“Kanima, we were in detention and it came out of nowhere.” Scott said, squeezing past Derek so he could get the door open for him. Derek took Erica upstairs and sat her on the nearest bed, his own.

“One of you hold her up,” Derek said, not looking up from Erica. “It’s okay, you’re gonna be fine.” he told her quietly, though Scott and Erica could hear the way his heart was beating. Neither of them called him out on the lie.

Stiles followed Derek quickly, nearly matching his pace as they headed upstairs to his room. Once they were on the bed, he quickly sat down behind Erica and cradled her in his arms so that he could support her body while Derek did whatever he needed to.

“Is she dying?” He asked quickly, trying his best to keep calm, but it was really hard after everything that was happening today.

“She might, I don’t - I don’t know,” Derek admitted softly. He clenched his jaw and brought Erica’s arm up in his hands, sliding her sleeve up. “This is going to hurt,” he told her and snapped her arm in his hands, trying to activate the healing process. Erica cried and shouted in pain, her tremors ceasing for a short moment.

“Oh my god,” Scott breathed, turning away and running his hands through his hair, pacing.

“Oh my fucking God, you just broke her arm!” Stiles exclaimed, wincing and feeling sick to his stomach at the sound her bones breaking. “How is that going to solve anything?!”

“I’m trying to activate the healing process!” Derek yelled back, sighing as she started shaking again. “I’ve gotta get the venom out.” He said and shook his head. “This is where it’s really going to hurt,” he said and shifted his hands, digging his claws into her arm. Erica screamed so loud her voice cracked, eyes squeezing tight as blood spilled from her arm and onto the bed. Scott just kept pacing, biting at his thumb.

Derek just waited, keeping his claws locked firmly in Erica’s arm as she kept crying and shouting until eventually she slumped in Stiles’ arms. She looked pallid and exhausted, but on the side of good news she’d completely stopped shaking.

“Stiles,” she said weakly, looking up at him. “You make a good Batman...” she mumbled, her eyes unfocused.

Stiles had to close his eyes tightly for a moment when Erica started to scream again. He did his best to comfort her, relaxing and stroking her hair gently when she calmed down. He carefully brushed it out of her face and took slow breaths to make sure that he was calming down too. He gave her a small smile, nodding and kissing her temple. It was his duty as Pack Mom to comfort the betas.

“I know.” He said softly, keeping her in his arms. “Get some rest and we’ll take you home in a little bit.” He told her before glancing up at Derek. He placed his hand on his knee and gently rubbed it to help him feel a little better too.

“I want to stay...” She said softly and Derek glanced at Stiles before looking down at her. He didn’t say anything to argue with her, closing his eyes for a moment.

“Just get some rest, Erica,” he said quietly and removed his claws from her arm, making her wince. He kept her arm in his hands, holding it tenderly as his veins darkened and he took some of her pain away. She let out a shuddering breath of relief, closing her eyes. He could tell she was asleep now and he stood up slowly.

“She should be fine for now, but she needs time to heal...” he said and paced over to the door. “Stay with her, both of you. I’ll be back in a few minutes.” He walked downstairs, heading for the bathroom and turning on the water. He shoved his hands under the running faucet and rinsed off the blood, drying his hands after they were cleaned.

 

“Is this... is this how he normally is?” Scott asked after Derek had left, staring wide-eyed down at Erica and Stiles.

“You can stay.” Stiles assured her, figuring it would be alright with Derek if she did. He kept her in his arms for a bit longer, humming lightly before he looked over at Scott.

He slowly nodded, looking back the way Derek had gone. “Most of the time, yeah. I was really shocked too. He actually can be really patient and caring. He’s just gruff because he’s been dealt so many bad cards throughout his life.”

Scott nodded, sighing shakily and sitting down on the floor next to Stiles. A couple minutes later Derek walked back in, glancing between Scott and Stiles. He wordlessly walked over to the bed, kneeling down next to Stiles. Scott watched, still in awe as Derek pressed a gentle kiss to Stiles’ cheek.

“I’ll be back, do _not_ leave her side.” Derek whispered to Stiles before standing up, gesturing for Scott to follow him as he led the way downstairs. 

Stiles gave him a faint smile and nodded slowly. “I won’t.” He responded softly, gently running his fingers through Erica’s hair for a bit longer before he let his hand drop back down to the bed. Scott gave Stiles a weak smile before he followed Derek.

“Tell me everything, from the beginning.” Derek said quietly as they walked down the stairs.

“Well, we were in detention and we were putting books away when the kanima - “

“Jackson.” Derek corrected, leaving Scott blinking repeatedly.

“You knew?” Scott asked.

“Missing the point here, Scott.” Derek said, sounding impatient.

“Well, uhm... Jackson turned, not completely, but enough. He attacked Matt first - he’s another kid at school - then Erica. He pushed me into a cart and then its was like... it was like he was possessed or something. He wrote something on this chalkboard that was in the library. ‘Stay out of my way, or I’ll kill all of you.’ And... then he just left.” Scott said. Derek nodded, crossing his arms over his chest.

“Do you understand now?” Derek asked and Scott exhaled sharply.

“Understand what?” Scott asked and Derek’s eyes flashed red.

“He could have killed her! Your _friend_ whom you’re so desperate to protect, almost killed Erica and you have the nerve to stand there and ask me...” Derek’s voice ended sharply before he roared at Scott who backed away a few steps. “This is why you can’t help him, this is why you can’t keep going with this fool’s errand of trying to save your friend when any second whoever is fucking controlling him could turn his little _pet_ on any one of us.” Scott was silent, his jaw clenched tight as Derek berated him.

“What are you going to do if Jackson’s told to kill Allison? Hm? Or what about your mom?” Derek asked, striding over to Scott who held his ground. “What if he’s sent after Stiles? What if he kills...” Derek trailed and forced himself to turn and walk away before he did anything more stupid than shouting at Scott.

“No matter what, neither of us can do this alone,” Scott said quietly after a few seconds. “And if I join your pack, at least for a while, then maybe we can figure something out together. Something that can keep everyone safe and still save Jackson.”

“You’re un-fucking-believable,” Derek muttered, resting his hands on his hips. Scott just stayed silent, hands clenched at his sides. “Where was this attitude days ago? At the pool, at the club, at your fucking house?”

“Look, can we put our differences aside for two fucking seconds and work together or not?” Scott said angrily, “I’ve made mistakes I’m not perfect - but you can’t stand there and say that you are either.” Scott said and silence fell between them for a few minutes until Scott walked over to the platform and sat down at the edge. Derek fumed, trying to sort out his thoughts, he was so angry at the hypocrisy of Scott’s offer that he didn’t even want to take it just to spite him. He knew though, as well as Scott just admitted, that they needed to work together. He’d been saying it himself the entire time. He muttered a curse under his breath, turning to Scott.

“I’ll work with you on the condition that you leave me alone as soon as Jackson’s taken care of. If you somehow manage to find a way to save him, fine... but until then we stick to my plan, killing him - those are my rules, take it or leave it.” Derek said, not looking at Scott. Scott stared at him silently for a moment before nodding.

“Fine, but _if_ it comes down to killing him, you’re doing it yourself.” Scott said and Derek looked at him.

“Gladly.” He replied.

 

Before Stiles realized it, his eyes slowly closed and his head dropped down against Erica’s. He had nearly drifted off but when he heard Derek’s roar, he jumped and looked towards the door before glancing down at Erica.

He knew that he had told Derek he would stay with Erica, but he wanted to go make sure that Derek didn’t tear his best friends to shreds downstairs. His legs felt a little numb from everything so he did his best to avoid it as he headed downstairs.

When Stiles saw that neither of them were physically fighting, he sighed in relief and crept up behind Derek before moving his arms around his waist. He rested his forehead to the back of his shoulder and traced his side when he felt how tense he was. “Hey, it’s okay, Der.” He whispered to him as he closed his eyes.

Derek had heard Stiles coming up behind him, but he still flinched at the contact before he could allow himself to relax and cover Stiles’ arms with his own. He tried to be angry at Stiles for leaving Erica, he really did, but all of his anger was targeted at Scott. “I’m sorry,” Derek whispered back and turned to look at Scott. “Go home, Scott. I’ll have Stiles let you know when Erica wakes up, if you care.” He said. Scott nodded and got to his feet, looking at Stiles for a minute.

“Can I...?” Scott asked and Derek sighed, shaking his head before turning in Stiles’ arms. He cupped Stiles’ face in his hands and kissed him briefly. “I’ll go sit with Erica while you talk to him.” he said softly, closing his eyes tightly as he rested their foreheads together.

Stiles kissed him back, moving his arms around his neck before Derek broke the kiss. “Alright, I’ll be up there soon.” He told him softly, running his fingers through Derek’s hair so that he could comfort him a little.

“Maybe I’ll order some pizza or something so I can make sure you get something to eat.” He smiled a little, holding him for a bit longer before he pulled away so he could talk to Scott.

Derek nodded, taking a deep breath and shakily letting it out before he let go of Stiles, walking upstairs to sit with Erica. Erica was still sound asleep, but the second he sat down next to her she moved her arms to wrap around his waist. “Mmm... Boyd?” she murmured and Derek licked his lips, silently cursing.

“Derek, not Boyd,” Derek told her quietly and her eyes fluttered open after a second.

“Oh,” she said and closed her eyes, nuzzling against him anyway. He didn’t think she was fully-conscious, just woken up by him sitting on the bed. “You can be my teddy...” she mumbled, a light snore coming from her a few seconds later. Derek bit his lower lip and tried not to laugh at that, shaking his head and petting her hair.

“I don’t get him,” Scott said after Derek had disappeared into the bedroom upstairs. “One second he’s being all concerned about Erica and being sickeningly sweet to you, the next he’s yelling at me as if all of this is my fault.”

Stiles shrugged his shoulders a little, putting his hands in his pockets as he looked towards the stairs. “Well, Erica and I are some of the rare few people he has that are the closest thing to family. And I mean, you guys haven’t exactly ever really been the best of friends and you’re both stressed. Also I’m his anchor, so that’s why he’s calmer around me. He’ll warm up to you eventually.”

Scott was so stunned by Stiles’ admission that he couldn’t even formulate words for a minute, gaping open-mouthed at Stiles the entire time. “I don’t even know what to say to that... but I guess I don’t have room to say anything.” he said and bit at his lip, his eyes slowly raising to look upstairs. This whole thing was just one disaster after another, it seemed, and Scott was exhausted.

“I’m just gonna go home, it’s a long walk from here so I should get started now. Just... be careful with him. I don’t know him or trust him, and I don’t really care to. So... I guess just make sure that you know what you’re doing.” Scott said quietly, looking down at his feet before he started off towards the door.

Stiles couldn’t help but smile as he shrugged. “I know, it’s strange. Even sometimes I get confused about how I got this far with him, but it’s totally worth it. He’s a great guy, really. He won’t hurt me.” ‘Not on purpose.’ He had to add in his head.

“Do you want me to give you a ride back? Or well, actually, take my Jeep. Derek can give me a ride home later.” He said softly, getting his keys out of his pocket before holding them out to Scott.

Scott hesitated before accepting Stiles’ keys, giving him a wave goodbye before heading outside and down the stairs. Stiles’ Jeep started up a moment later and got quieter the further Scott drove it away.


	28. Cuddle Party

Stiles headed back upstairs to go see how Derek was doing and snorted when he saw Erica cuddling with him. “Having fun?” He asked with a smile.

“She’s still out of it,” Derek said, smiling at little as he looked down at Erica. “I think she thinks I’m Boyd...” He said, a frown slowly crossing his features. “I should let them know what happened. They were supposed to be back by now anyway.”

“Do you want me to text them?” He asked as he moved to sit down beside Derek and put his head on his shoulder.

Yeah, please. Just tell them they need to come back, I’ll explain it when they get here.” Derek said quietly, resting his cheek against Stiles’ head. Stiles nodded and that and pulled out his phone before putting Isaac and Boyd’ numbers in so he could tell them that Derek needed them back. He then set his phone down and moved his arm around Derek’s waist. 

“Do you need anything else?”

 _‘Just a few minutes to make sure that I’m still breathing...’_ Derek thought to himself. What he said was, “No.” He adjusted how he was sitting a little so his arms could wrap around Stiles’ shoulders and Erica’s. “Just want to stay like this for a little while.”

Stiles nodded and curled up a bit more against him before he looked up at him again. “You’re incredible, Der. Never forget that. You’re a great Pack Dad.”

Derek didn’t bother going into the ‘shoulda, woulda, couldas’ that were repeating over and over in his mind. “You scared the hell out of me.” he murmured, brushing his fingers against Stiles’ arm.

“How?” He asked, furrowing his eyebrows before he kissed his neck to help him feel a bit better.

“Just everything today, I wake up and you’re gone - which is fine, I understand - but then the last thing I hear from you is that Erica’s been hurt.” Derek said and sighed a little through his nose. “Scott’s your best friend, but he doesn’t protect anyone else when Allison is around. I can’t trust him with looking out for you, or anyone else in the pack. He might be part of it now, but I can’t just let this go.”

“I don’t need protection. I may be a hundred and forty-seven pounds of fragile human muscle and bone, but I’m capable. I did a lot of the protecting today, if you can believe it. I’m the Spider-Man to your Batman. I would stay Batman, but you’ve got the whole dark and brooding thing going on. And Spider-Man is wicked awesome.”

“Stiles, this isn’t some comic book. You’re not always going to be able to wiggle your way out of getting hurt and you’re not always going to have someone there to watch your back.” he said, sounding exasperated. “I want to be there for you, I want to protect you - but I’m not always going to be able to either. I just...” he paused, hanging his head down. “If I lost you, or someone hurt you, I don’t... It scares me what I think I might do.”

“I don’t _need_ protection.” Stiles repeated, trying to get his point across. “I’m not saying that life is like a comic book, because if it was, I wouldn’t be scared out of my mind half the time. I’m just trying to make the best of everything. And you’re not going to lose me, Derek. I can tell you that much. You’re stuck with me and there are no refunds on this gift, alright?”

Derek clenched his jaw, biting back his retorts of ‘yes, you do’ and ‘you don’t understand how easily it could have been you instead of Erica.’ He just squeezed Stiles tighter to him, lifting his head and resting it against the wall. He swallowed hard past the lump in his throat. “Promise me.” he whispered, even though he knew that Stiles couldn’t promise something like that. He just needed to hear the words, to hear Stiles saying it.

Stiles sat up a little so he could turn and face him better. He placed his hands on his cheeks, running his thumbs over his skin gently. “I promise.” He said softly, nuzzling against him. “I promise I’ll be careful and safe as possible.” He stared into his eyes for a few moments before kissing him softly.

Derek slowly opened his eyes as Stiles cupped his face in his hands. He listened and nodded before kissing Stiles back, keeping it quick, but gentle. He could hear footsteps on the stairs outside and he knew it had to be Isaac and Boyd.

“The rest of the pack’s here, we should go meet them,” he said quietly before moving his hand away from Stiles’ back. He was gentle with Erica as he picked her up as he stood. He carried her over to her bed and smirked a little as she immediately latched onto her pillow and hugged it against her chest in her sleep.

Stiles groaned a little when he pulled away before nodding. “Okay, sounds good.” He said softly, kissing his cheek before he snickered a little. “Pups are adorable when they are sleeping.” He joked, moving an arm around Derek’s waist before putting his hand in his back pocket.

“Erica’s definitely very... tactile.” Derek said, taking a moment to think of the right word to use. He wrapped his arm around Stiles’ waist too and pulled him in for a hug. “Come on, they’re waiting.” he murmured, pressing a kiss to Stiles’ forehead as he smiled a little.

Stiles grinned and kissed his neck softly. “She’s like a koala bear.” He said softly as he leaned against him. “We should have a pack slumber party. Watch movies and stuff. Do each other’s hair and make up.”

“The full moon’s coming up, I don’t know if we can...” Derek said quietly. “It’s spring break for you though right?” he asked, wondering just how many days off Beacon Hills gave their students.

“Not quite yet. But I’m almost there.” Stiles said softly, squeezing Derek’s butt for a moment. “We should go to the beach while I’m off. Oh....wait a minute. You never got pierced in San Francisco. What a rip off.” He laughed lightly.

Derek chuckled, “I forgot, to be honest. Now that you mention it I wish you’d have forgotten entirely.” he said and rested his forehead on Stiles’ shoulder. “

“Derek?” Boyd called from downstairs and Derek sighed.

“Responsibility calling,” he murmured.

“Derek, that you?” Isaac this time.

“Yeah, hang on!” Derek called over his shoulder to them.

Stiles slowly grinned and followed behind him as he put both hands down his pants and keep his hands there. “We’re gonna have to do it at some point. It’s too hot to pass up.”

Derek huffed and shook his head. He led the way downstairs, noting the worried expressions on Isaac and Boyd’s face.

“I smell blood, Erica’s. What’s going on?” Boyd asked first thing.

“Long story short, Jackson’s master had him attack Scott’s group at the school. Erica was with them and got hurt, but she’s fine now. She’s resting.” Derek said. Boyd stood there for a moment before squeezing his hands tight and releasing a pained howl as he shifted. He pushed his way past Derek and Stiles and took the stairs four at a time to get up to Erica. Derek swore under his breath.

“Isaac, can you help?” Derek asked and Isaac nodded. Derek turned to Stiles. “Please, wait here.” he said and dashed upstairs after Isaac.

Stiles bit his lip, feeling bad that they had to get really worried about her. If he had been more careful, then maybe he could have avoided her getting injured like that. “Yeah, of course.” He told Derek, going to stay out of the way especially if Boyd got unstable and had to attack something. He already went down that road with Isaac and once was enough for him with Derek’s betas.

Derek got upstairs and was honestly surprised when he saw that they were all just huddled together on Erica’s bed. Erica as hugging Boyd and telling him she was okay repeatedly, Boyd was crying, no longer shifted, and Isaac was just kneeling next to them, rubbing at them comfortingly. Derek was about to walk away when he heard Erica calling after him.

“Derek, get over here,” Erica said, sniffling before she cleared her throat. Derek slowly walked over to them, grunting when Erica and Boyd pulled him down between them and hugged him. Derek didn’t know what to do, but he knew that he didn’t have a choice in getting up with the way they were all group hugging him. Even Isaac was on the other side of Erica, his arm stretched out so it was touching Boyd. It reminded him of the way his family had sat sometimes at home and he felt a little overwhelmed.

“Uhm... guys?” he asked and Erica shushed him.

“Stiles, come hug your alpha!” she called over his head and Derek withered.

“Oh my God, what is wrong with you guys…?” He asked and Erica just laughed.

“We almost lost one of our own, I think we deserve to have a little group hug time.” Erica said. Derek just stayed where he was, smashed between the three of them, waiting for the eventual moment that Stiles would come upstairs and see the relief fueled embarrassment that was going on.

At the sound of Erica calling him, he furrowed his eyebrows and headed up the stairs. When he got to the room, the last thing that he expected to see was a puppy pile.

He watched the pack for a moment, feeling his heart hurt a little because they were all a family and they relied on each other, so of course it really hurt when one of them was in danger.

He watched them for a few moments for he slowly grinned. “Dog pile!” He exclaimed, jumping onto the four of them so he could try to lighten the mood for them.

“Stiles, wait -” Derek got out before Stiles was jumping on top of them and he grunted as the wind was knocked out of his lungs. Isaac was laughing and Erica was grinning and Boyd was just staring at her so happily. Derek sighed, the smell of so much relief and happiness getting to his head a little. He gave in, wiggling until his arms were wrapped around Erica and Isaac and Boyd. Stiles wiggled a little until he was successfully laying almost completely on Derek, grinning as he bumped his nose to Derek’s for a moment.

“Thanks for saving me,” Erica said as she tried to get an arm around Stiles, succeeding after a moment of wiggling that ended up with her elbow digging into Derek’s side for a second. “Both of you,” she said, looking over at Derek.

“You’re my pack, it’s my job.” Derek said in effort to explain it. She just smiled at him knowingly.

“You’re so very welcome, Erica.” Stiles grinned at her before he snorted at Derek’s reply. “Oh boo, Derek. Don’t let that fool you, he so totally loves you guys. He probably carried your pictures in his wallet like a proud papa.” He joked before looking up at Derek again. He winked at him before leaning forwards and kissing him for the first time in front of the pack. He soon pulled away and squirmed a little. “God, you all are like freaking furnaces. Remind me to hire you all as my heaters during the winter.” He snorted.

“You’re the one who decided to climb in the middle of us,” Boyd said with a snort. Derek huffed out a sigh.

“Someone’s knee is digging into my ribs,” he said and after a second of Boyd shifting around the pressure was gone.

“Sorry,” Boyd laughed, Erica and Isaac laughing too.

“Just don’t make this a habit,” Derek said and Eric rolled her eyes.

“You’re surrounded by three werewolves, we can smell you, don’t deny that you’re enjoying this.” She said and Isaac chuckled.

“Yeah, besides, you’re kind of trapped,” Isaac said and Derek shrugged his shoulders a little.

“Am I allowed to plead the fifth on any of this?” Derek asked.

“Oh Hell no,” Erica laughed.

Stiles couldn’t help but laugh as he listened to them all, shaking his head a little. “Hey it could be worse. At least it’s not drunk Twister.” He pointed out before grinning at Derek.

“Awwww, Mr. Big Bad Alpha Wolf loves to be cuddled. I think it’s your cute little wolfy senses that make you such a cuddle beast. Also, cuddle parties are wicked awesome anyways.” He pointed out before he cupped Derek’s face in his hands and began to nuzzle him and rub their faces together.

“Let yourself be lovedddd.” He murmured before laughing a little.

“You guys suck,” Derek said with a laugh, getting an idea on how he could get out of this mess. “What can I do so you guys will let me free?”

“Not a damn thing,” Erica said and Boyd laughed.

“I dunno, maybe we should let me free, he’s been cooperative so far,” Boyd said.

“Yes, yes, listen to Boyd!” Derek said.

“But that’s exactly why we should enjoy this while we can!” Erica whined, pouting at Boyd when he mussed up her hair as he wriggled free of the hug pile. 

“No, don’t listen to Boyd!” Stiles laughed when Derek protested before laughing even harder when Derek finally got free. Derek ended up nearly falling off of the bed from how they had pulled him down, once Boyd had stood up. He was caught by Erica and Isaac, who shifted around so they were more cuddling each other.

“Fine, Boyd - you don’t get to be part of our cuddle pile,” Erica said stuffily, squealing as Boyd came over and squeezed between them. Their scents all changed a little immediately, the subtle smell of attraction. So many people squeezing on one bed, though Derek was unsurprised when he got shoved towards the edge. Erica cried through her laughter. Isaac seemed used to whatever was going on between the three of them and was hugging close to Boyd. Derek rolled his eyes, his mind connecting dots. He raised an eyebrow at Boyd.

“You three...?” Derek asked and Boyd gave him a small smile, blushing a bit. Derek nodded and prodded at Stiles. “All right, come on _pack mom_. The pack wants their own cuddle time.”

“Get pizza!” Isaac piped up and Erica turned to nod excitedly in agreement.

“Hawaiian!” She said and Isaac made a disgusted sound. “What, it’s delicious and you know it!”

“No, it’s really not,” Isaac said, laughing.

Stiles didn’t get what was going on at first, blinking slowly before he quickly untangled himself from the mess of werewolf limbs. “Oh god!” He exclaimed with a laugh before grinning. “Okay, that’s totally fine, polyamory all the way and all that jazz. Just stay safe if you get to that point. Pack Mom Stiles doesn’t want to be chasing after pups. And not on Derek’s bed. That place is reserved for _my_ naked body only.” He stated before throwing his arms up.

“Hell yes we’re getting pizza! We are going to get so much pizza that we’re all going to go into a food coma! Or we can all puke on Derek for leaving the cuddle party. And ugh, if we have to, we’ll get you some of your abomination pizza.” Stiles winked at Erica, not minding getting her some. He soon turned to Derek and moved his arms around his neck. “Now, carry me, peasant.”

Erica, Isaac and Boyd erupted into laughter and giggles at Stiles’, trying to shield themselves as Derek smacked the pillow he’d been laying on over the three of them.

“Hey!” Erica said and smacked him back with it.

“Do _not_ start, Erica,” Boyd laughed.

“But he started it!” she said defensively.

“I’m leaving anyway,” Derek said, working an arm behind Stiles’ back and the other under his legs. “But like Stiles said, not in my bed. It’s kind of covered in Erica’s blood right now anyway.” He said and Erica made a face.

“Sorry about that,” she said and Derek shrugged, starting off towards the door, getting it to close with his foot as he brought Stiles downstairs and stood him unceremoniously once they'd reached the landing.

“Oh my God, we’re having a massive fucking pillow fight the moment after the pizza comes.” Stiles grinned up at him before Derek lifted him.

“I can’t believe you’re actually carrying me.” He laughed as he kissed his neck softly before biting at it to try and make a mark on him. “I totally have you whipped and there is nothing you can do about it.” Once Derek set him down, he slapped his ass before turning away from him so he could get his phone out. “What kind of pizza do you like, Der?”

“I’m not whipped, I just didn’t want to spend twenty more minutes in that room with Cuddles one, two and three.” Derek said with a snort. “Pepperoni, you should know this by now.”

“Now you’re stuck with the Alpha Cuddler.” He replied before he stuck his tongue out at him. “I know, but I figured I would ask. Why don’t we try pepperoni and bacon? You have not lived until you eat pepperoni and bacon pizza.”

“Maybe a half-bacon, half-pepperoni. I’m not big on multiple toppings.” Derek said, sitting down on the platform with a sigh before lying down. “How long before your birthday again?” he asked, lifting his head up to look at Stiles.

“About two weeks.” He said softly, sitting down beside him before he lay next to him and curled up with him. “I’ll get one of each because I can eat an entire pizza by myself if I put my mind to it.”

Derek nodded, moving his arm as Stiles cuddled up next to him so he could wrap it around Stiles’ back. “I might give you an early present, if we have movie night before your birthday.” he said.

Stiles slowly grinned at that and kissed his cheek. “I’d like that.” He said softly, moving his leg around Derek’s waist.

Derek chuckled, “Maybe tomorrow. The present should be ready by then, if I get the rest of what I need for it.”

“Oh my God, tomorrow. Yes please.” He said softly, bumping their noses together. “I think that would be really awesome. I mean, if we can.”

“We’ll have to figure out something about getting a TV and stuff, Erica’s got her laptop, but that’s not exactly good for five people to crowd around.”

“I’ll take care of the TV, don’t worry about it.” Stiles said softly, looking back up at him for a moment before he looked down at his phone again so he could continue ordering. “Okay, I’m getting cheese sticks, two peps, a pep and bacon, and an abomination for Erica. Anything else?”

Derek thought for a second and shook his head. “No, that should be it.”

Stiles nodded at that and ordered it before he pocketed his phone. “Now we have thirty minutes to kill.” He said softly, slowly rolling over so he could straddle Derek’s hips. “What are we going to do for those thirty minutes?”

Derek hummed, resting his hands on Stiles’ thighs. “We could see how the wolfsbane is doing?” he suggested, knowing that wasn’t what Stiles wanted, but not entirely comfortable with more while the pack was just upstairs. Even if they were preoccupied with each other anyway.

“Yeah.” Stiles nodded slowly, leaning down so he could rest his forearms on either side of Derek. “Hopefully it’s been doing alright.” He murmured, resting their foreheads together for a moment before he kissed him.

Derek worked his hands under the back of Stiles’ shirt, leaning his head up into the kiss. “That won’t take long though... maybe we could do something after. Find a spot that’s quiet.” he murmured, nipping gently at Stiles’ lip.

Stiles slowly grinned, running his fingers through Derek’s hair. “Mm.” He nodded, getting a little lost in Derek’s kiss. “I think we can totally do that.”

Derek nodded, “Good, ‘cause uh.. That sounds really good right now.” He murmured, bumping their noses together.

“Good.” Stiles grinned at him before he kissed his jaw and climbed off of him. He held his hands out to him, offering to help him up once he was upright again.

Derek took his hands, getting to his feet and letting go of one of Stiles’ hands, leading him with the other as he laced their fingers together. “It’s through here,” Derek said, leading him into the training area. It took a few minutes of navigating through the boxes before they finally reached one of the windows where the plant was sitting. The sun was peaking through the window, leaving the plant cast half in sunlight, the other half in shadow. Derek let go of Stiles hand and knelt down next to it, turning some of the flowers in his hands, checking the buds that hadn’t bloomed yet.

“I think it’ll be ready,” he said, half to himself. This was, after all, part of Stiles’ birthday presents.

Stiles slowly grinned when he saw the plant and nodded. He was glad to see that it was all doing so well. “That’s so awesome.” He said softly as he looked it over. “So do you just uh, mix it with whatever you want or do you do it straight?” He asked curiously, wondering how exactly it worked for a werewolf.

“I like it with whiskey, myself, but pretty much you can mix it with whatever you want when it comes to drinks.” Derek said, “Just have to be careful not to actually ingest the flowers, that’ll make you sick for days.” he commented with a smirk and snort. “The first time that happened to me, Laura couldn’t stop laughing for the first hour that I was throwing up.” he said and plucked one of the flowers off, twirling it between his fingers a second before setting it next to the plant on the floor.

“To mix it with pot, you have to dry it out first, and no matter what you can only mix so many flowers in at a time. Too many and it’s like giving acid.” He said, turning the plant around so the other side of it was facing the window. “It can cause you to hallucinate, and depending on the person’s personality that can be a really good thing, or a really bad thing.”

Stiles snickered a little, sitting down beside him. “Of course you would do something like that. Thanks for the warning though, I’ll try to keep it in mind. I don’t want to pull a Derek after all.” He winked at him as he leaned over and nudged him with his shoulder.

“So uh, what way do you recommend trying it out?” He asked curiously, since he knew it would be best to have recommendations from the person that actually had experience with the plant.

Derek rolled his eyes, shaking his head. “If you’re wanting to try it, then I’d recommend drinking it. You said you were worried about school and you also said you’ve drank before so it’s something that you’re used to already. Plus... I have no idea where I’d get pot around here. All my contacts are back in New York.”

Stiles laughed a little at that. “That makes sense. I mean, I could probably find a way to get us some, if it’s better that way, but I probably rather would just do it with alcohol.” He said softly before furrowing his eyebrows when he thought of something that it could possibly work with. “Have you tried it with tobacco? Or is that something that it wouldn’t really work with?”

Derek frowned, looking over at the plant. “I don’t think so...” he said slowly. “The plant just lowers my ability to heal without endangering my life - the reason why I can’t get high or drunk normally is because I heal too fast for it to affect me. The plant makes it work, so I guess the answer is no, it wouldn’t really work that way. Honestly, my sister and my uncle knew more about the plant and how it works than I ever cared to.”

“Oh, that makes sense then.” Stiles said softly, moving his arm around his waist loosely. “So uh, if we’re ever going to smoke it, it’ll keep it in mind to make sure that we have some pot on hand. But I think we’re just going to stick to booze.” He said softly. “I’m wondering what kind of drunk you are though, so maybe I’ll get the chance to see it.”

Derek chuckled, wondering if he should tell Stiles now, but he decided not to. If they were going to have the movie night tomorrow as he was hoping, he wanted Stiles to be surprised. “You will eventually.” He said, standing up from where he’d been kneeling and wiping his hands on his jeans. “Ready to find some place to hide from the pack and make out?”

“Hell yes.” Stiles grinned at him before getting to his feet. “Dude, would I ever say no to making out with you? I’d have to be pretty damn insane to say no to making out.” He said softly, placing his hand on Derek’s hips.

Derek chuckled, “I’d say somewhere close, but they can pay for the food since most of it’s theirs.” he said, shrugging. “Any ideas on where you want to go?”


	29. Backseat

Stiles slowly grinned, letting his hands fall a little so he could hook his fingers under the top of his jeans. “Mmm...Well, it all depends on if our making out is sticking to just making out or if it’s going to be more than that.”

“Hmmmm, well, I don’t exactly have anything with me for sex, but uh... blowjob maybe?” he suggested, raising his eyebrows.

“I uh, actually...Uh...May or may not have lube in my backpack if that helps.” Stiles said slowly, gently clapping his hands together before he slowly interlocked his own fingers together.

Derek raised his eyebrows a little further. “Oh, okay,” he said slowly. “Then I guess it all depends on what you want to do.”

Stiles thought about it, taking Derek’s hands as he raised his own eyebrows. “We could uh, totally bang right now.”

Derek let out a soft snort, smiling. “Let’s go get your backpack and figure out where we want to go then.” Derek said and laughed.

“I’m rather fond of the thought of your backseat right about now. I mean, it may not be the biggest space, but it would be an adventure.”

Derek shrugged. “Better than trying to get the bedroom back.” he said, giving Stiles’ hands a squeeze before he let go of one, leading the way through the mess of boxes to the back door. He figured that way, they’d have a bit of privacy in where they were before he’d move his car so they wouldn’t be spotted by the pizza guy.

Stiles grinned as he followed him, kissing his neck softly before he let go. “I’ll be out in a minute.” He said softly, slapping his butt before he went to go get his backpack so they would have everything that they needed.

He slung it over his shoulder and headed outside so that he could meet up with Derek. “You’re in luck, I brought the good kind. Also some massage oil, but I don’t think I’m going to get to use that on you when your pack is here. Next time though for sure.”

Derek nodded, glad that he’d had his jacket on with his car keys in it the whole time. He’d had in on in case he didn’t hear back from Stiles and had to go find them. He had moved his car around to the far side of the warehouse, jogging back to meet Stiles.

“They’re going to know what we did regardless of that, but its up to you.” Derek said, and tilted his head towards where he’d parked his car. “I moved the car back there, bit more privacy there.”

Stiles nodded as he took Derek’s hand. “I know, I just wasn’t sure if you want me to give you a huge back massage in front of the pack. Also it would probably get out of hand and we’d be making out, covered in oil and rubbing against each other.”

Derek sighed happily at the thought of a back massage as they walked, but forced himself to nod. “Yeah, you’re right,” he said, shaking the thought from his head.

“Let me just move some things around,” Derek said as they reached his car and let go of Stiles’ hand to adjust the seats around to make as much room for the back seat as he could. He stepped back after he was done, tilting his head at the larger space. The seat was still small, but with a little maneuvering he felt like it might work... maybe.

Stiles crept up behind him once he stood back, moving his arms around his waist before nipping lightly at his neck. “Is it Hale approved?” He asked curiously, grinning against his skin before kissing it again.

“Maybe... one sec,” he said and climbed into the back, taking the seat belt clips and shoving them between the seat and the back. That would be one less injury causing device in the car. “I think that’s as good as we’re going to get.” he said, glancing around the car from the back seat. Anything that might get in their way now was stuff that he couldn’t move without breaking it.

Stiles nodded at that and slapped Derek’s butt again when he bent down, humming in content to himself as he nodded. “Awesome, I think this will be a completely awesome experience. I mean, sex with you has been awesome so far anyways.”

“Get in here then... peasant,” Derek said with a smirk.

Stiles slowly grinned and got into the car before he shut the door behind him. “I’m pretty sure I’m at least a Prince. Or a Duke at the minimum.” He said softly, leaning forwards before he brushed their lips together.

“Oh, so you’re a prince or a duke, but I’m a peasant?” Derek asked after Stiles had kissed him. “You’re not playing fair.”

Stiles nipped lightly at his lip before running his tongue along it. “I changed my mind, you’re my king.” He whispered, running his fingers through his hair.

“That’s better,” Derek murmured, smiling at him. He pressed their lips together, running his tongue along Stiles’ lower lip.

Stiles nodded slowly, opening his mouth so he could meet Derek’s tongue with his own lightly before trying to coax it into his mouth. Derek hummed, taking Stiles’ hint and pressing his tongue forward, reaching out for him with his hands and leaning closer. Stiles soon pulled away and kissed his jaw softly before he worked Derek’s jacket off. He hummed in content as he kissed down Derek’s jaw before he kissed his neck softly. “Take your shirt off for me, please.” He murmured, slowly smiling as he glanced up at him. He sat back so he could shrug his button down off of his shoulders and take it off before he dropped it to the floor of the car. Once that was off, he pulled off his T-shirt and tossed it aside too. Derek helped Stiles get his coat off, tossing it over the front seat and tilting his head so Stiles could reach his neck better.

“Absolutely,” he said, grabbing at the back of his collar and pulling his shirt off over his head. He tossed it next to Stiles’ clothes, leaning forward and pressing his mouth against Stiles’ chest. He kept his eyes open only enough so he could locate Stiles’ moles, gently kissing over them. He rested his hands on Stiles’ hips, his thumbs brushing gently against the skin right above his pants.

Stiles shivered at the feeling of Derek’s mouth on his skin and arched his back a little as he closed his eyes. “Wow, I’m starting to think you have a weird fixation with my moles.” He said softly, scooting a bit closer to him.

“They’re cute,” Derek said, kissing one last one before straightening to look up at Stiles. “I’m almost tempted to play connect the dots one of these days.” He said and chuckled. “Make some mole-stellations out of them.”

“Oh my God!” Stiles exclaimed with a snort before he started to laugh. “That is literally both the worst and cutest thing I have ever heard anyone say regarding my moles. Jesus Christ.”

Derek laughed, “I figure if you can make stupid puns, so can I.” he said and blinked a few times before lifting his hand to trace a few of the moles on Stiles’ face. “Stiles, I think you’ve got the Little Dipper on your face...”

Stiles furrowed his eyebrows at that before crooking one. “What the hell do you mean I have the Little Dipper on my face? Now you’re just making stuff up.”

Derek laughed, “No, I’m completely serious!” Derek said and bit at his lip for a moment before he dug his phone out of his coat. “Okay, just sit still for a second.” Derek said and turned Stiles’ head before snapping the photo, the flash of his phone brightening the car for a second. He tapped at the screen and then turned his phone around, zooming it in on the section he was talking about.

“See?” he asked. “It’s a little crooked, but still. That’s the Little Dipper, in moles, on your face.”

Stiles stared incredulously at Derek for a few moments, wondering if he was really being serious or if he was just making fun of him. He rolled his eyes and glanced down at the picture before he let out a groan and dropped his head onto Derek’s shoulder. “Oh, you have _got_ to be kidding me.”

Derek snorted, laughing as he tossed his phone on the floor. “I don’t see how you never noticed that.” He said, wrapping his arms around Stiles.

“Well, I’ve never compared the moles on my body to constellations so I’ve never had that problem before.” Stiles stated, bumping their noses together before he grinned. He placed his hands on Derek’s cheeks so he could carefully angle his face down a bit before he leaned forwards and moved so his nose was rested above his. “Our noses fit together.”

Derek laughed, “There are other parts of us that could be fitting together right now too.” He said, flicking his tongue out and licking at Stiles’ face.

“Oh my God, you just licked me again!” He exclaimed, laughing as he scrunched his face up.

“And I’m going to keep licking you until you decide who’s doing what.” Derek said, licking him again up the side of his face.

Stiles groaned lightly and got as much saliva in his mouth as he could before he gave Derek a big, nice, wet lick right up his face. Derek scrunched up his face, sighing through his nose. “Okay, yeah, let’s not actually start this again,” he said, laughing as he picked his shirt up to wipe off his face.

Stiles grinned and bumped their heads together lightly. “Mm, I like licking you in other places too.” He said softly, tracing Derek’s abs as he spoke.

Derek tossed his shirt back to the floor and sighed, resting his head back against the seat. “I like that too, and licking you, and fucking you and the way you say my name as I’m doing any number of things to you.” He said, looking over at Stiles, lifting his hand to brush against Stiles’ face.

Stiles had to take a moment to process what he was saying, looking a little out of it for a few moments. “Yeah, all of that is very nice.” He whispered as he kissed his jaw.

Derek hummed, ghosting his fingers down Stiles’ neck. “I have an idea...” he murmured, “Since you don’t seem to have any. Unless, you’re just keeping them to yourself.”

“I’m always willing to hear what you have in mind for me. Most of the time it’s very sexy.” Stiles murmured, tilting his head a little.

“I’ve never done it before, but the car ride up to the Emporium, it kind of gave me the idea.” He said, leaning his mouth forward to take the place of his hands. “I want you to listen to the sound of my voice,” he said softly, his voice a little lower than usual, “I want you to listen to it, because I want to see if I can make you come from that.” He said, pressing a kiss to Stiles’ neck.

“I want to see everything, see you touching yourself,” he continued as he made a point to keep close to Stiles, the heat from his words warming his face as it met with Stiles’ skin, “I want to see what I can do to you without even touching you.”

Stiles had to close his eyes for a few moments so that he could calm himself down. He bit at his lip and slowly opened his eyes, already feeling really turned on by the sound of that. “I think I can manage going along with that, on the condition that you fuck me eventually.” He said softly, shifting his hips a little so he could make himself more comfortable.

“And my conditions are these - since I can’t touch you, you can’t touch me, only ourselves. You’re allowed to come when you want to, but since you said you want to have sex try and go slow with yourself, you’ll have to tell me when you’re ready.” Derek said, his voice sounding more like normal as he spoke. “ I won’t control when you come, but if I haven’t yet, then we’ll have to deal with that somehow. Is all of that okay?”

Stiles groaned a little at that but undid his jeans as he sat back. “Yeah, that all sounds really good. I mean, I wish I could touch you, but I’ll make up for it later.”

Derek grinned, looking away for a moment. “All right,” he said softly, he started to take off his own pants, “Let’s get started.” he said. “I’ll direct you, just because it will be a little easier for what I’m trying to do.”

Stiles nodded at that and swallowed hard as he watched Derek. “Alright, I’m ready when you are.”

“Pull your cock, out and start touching yourself.” Derek said lowly. “Do it slow, forget that I’m here.” He said, keeping his eyes on Stiles the entire time, scooting so that he was resting in the corner of the back seat.

Stiles nodded at that and pulled his boxers down enough to get his cock out before he began to slowly stroke himself with one hand. He was already almost completely hard from the way Derek had been talking to him, so it didn’t take too much encouragement for him to get fully aroused. He tilted his head back and bit his lip, breathing slowly through his nose.

“God, you look so good.” Derek murmured, resting his hands against his legs. “You like it when I talk to you like this don’t you - when I remove your control. Do you think about it a lot when we don’t see each other? When you’re alone and trying to find release?”

Stiles nodded to Derek’s words as he tried to stay focused on touching himself and Derek’s voice. “Yeah...I-I think about you a lot. I think about you every time.”

“You’re such a good boy to do so,” Derek said. “I wonder how many times you think about me during school. How many times you’ve been sitting in class, squirming around in your seat because you can’t stop thinking about how I fuck you. Does it make it more exciting for you - when you’re sitting there hard and surrounded by your classmates, trying to hide how hard you are?”

“Do you ever just have to leave, because you know if you don’t, at any second someone’s going to look over and see it? I bet you do. I’d bet that you’d _have_ to go somewhere to take care of it. To pretend just for a moment that you’re with me, that it’s my hand touching you, squeezing around your cock and taking your release from you.”

Stiles let out a low moan and lifted his hips for a moment as he struggled to keep his hand moving slowly. “Y-Yeah...It does...I kind of wish that you were in school with me. I think about sneaking out of class, pretending to have to go to the bathroom or maybe even being sick so we can meet up and kiss, or even have a quickie.” He said softly. “I think about what that would be like and it just ugh...really gets to me.”

“Imagine what it would be like if I _did_ go to school with you. We’d never stop touching each other.” He said with a light chuckle. “I’d touch you every chance I got. Take you to empty classrooms and bend you over some teacher’s desk. I’d be gentle at first, slow because I know how much that tortures you.” He paused to smile. “I like it when you can’t take it anymore, your voice when you beg for me. You’re such a good boy, begging me as if I’m not going to give you what you want the second you ask for it.”.

“O-Oh my God.” Stiles exhaled shakily as he tilted his head back and bucked his hips. “Please, Derek,” he whispered, feeling his toes curl inside his Converse. He swallowed hard, opening his eyes and staring up at the ceiling of the car. “I-I’d let you fuck me everywhere. You could, uh, pin me to walls and I’d be very, very happy.” He rambled a little as he felt like his brain was slowly turning into goop.

“I think I’d like that,” Derek said with a grin, enjoying the way he was being successful so far. “Maybe we can try that soon. You can drape your legs over my shoulders and I’d support you. See how far I can get your cock down my throat. I think I’m getting better at it. The way you react when I’ve got you in my mouth, pressing my tongue against you and digging my hands into your hips.”

Stiles cursed under his breath that time and let out a moan as he squirmed a little. He had to stop his hand on his cock for a moment, hissing a little in protest of his own actions. “Jesus.” He whispered as he shifted a little and bit his lip, taking a moment to take a deep breath before moving his hand again.

Derek bit at his lower lip, really wanting to ignore the fact that he’d placed a ‘no touching’ rule just so he could see how quick Stiles would come. Perhaps with a pizza on the way, this little experiment wasn’t the greatest of ideas, but too late now. “I’d kiss you first,” he said softly, immediately picking back up when it seemed that Stiles was okay to keep going again. “Slide my tongue against yours, biting your lip. I’d kiss your neck then too, graze my teeth against it because I love how it makes your skin bump up. Its like its begging for me to bite it.”

Stiles bit his lip and looked over at him, breathing heavily through his nose as he moved his hand a little faster. “Would you cover it in your marks so that everyone knows I’m yours?”

“Of course,” Derek said with a smile. “I can only imagine the locker room the next day. A trail of hickeys and bite marks down your neck, your chest. Anywhere I could get my mouth around.” He murmured. “The jealousy of them, the awe. That you have someone like me, that you have someone who is yours as much as you are theirs. That you’re a glutton for punishment not just because of that smart mouth of yours.”

Stiles looked a little dazed as he stared shamelessly at Derek’s mouth as he spoke. He slowly licked his lips before letting out a low moan and closing his eyes again as he cursed a little. “You make my punishments feel so damn good, Der.”

“Oh trust me, you’ve never been _punished_ punished.” Derek said with a snort. “You like that though don’t you? Just a bit of humiliation for doing something wrong? You’re just such a good boy, Stiles. It would be hard for me to come up with a punishment you wouldn’t like.” He said and pretended to think for a minute. “Maybe I’d get a leash for that collar. Dress you up in something nice, something more flattering for that tight little body of yours. Then of course I’d have to take you out. Maybe that club, the Dahlia. Parade you around and show everyone just how obedient you can be.”

“But then, you’d probably like that too, wouldn’t you?”

Stiles felt his heart start to pound harder in his chest and saliva pool in his mouth as he thought about that. “Oh my fucking God, please.” He whispered, letting out a whining noise as he squirmed and tilted his head back. “Can I use my fingers, Derek? Please?” He asked softly, wanting to use just a bit more to get himself off.

“Are you planning on coming soon?” Derek asked. “Because if you are then, I believe our agreement was that I fuck you. Unless... you want to have me fuck you after you come, because honestly the thought of you letting me fuck you twice in two different ways in a row is enough for me to say, yes. You can use your fingers.”

Stiles nodded quickly as he swallowed slowly so he didn’t drool. “I want you to fuck me after I come.” He said softly, grabbing his backpack before he got the cherry lube out and stopped stroking himself so that he could pour a little on his fingers and warm it up before lowering his hand. He shifted his hips a little and lowered a little on the seat so he could push two fingers into himself easier.

The teenager let out a light moan at the feeling, having to take a moment to enjoy it before he started stroking himself again as the other hand began to pump his fingers slowly. Derek nodded at Stiles’ answer, a pleased humming in his throat.

“Did you ever do things like this before me? Testing out a few fingers against yourself just to see what it was like? Or was I your first for all of it?” He asked curiously.

“Uh...” Stiles paused, biting his lip and tilting his head back as he jerked his hips. “You...Well, uh, I’m a curious boy so of course I tried it a few times, but uh...I didn’t really start doing it often until I started thinking about you.”

“You probably just didn’t know how to do it right before,” Derek said with a smirk. “Didn’t know about the prostate, how amazing it can feel when you press your fingers against it. I can’t say that I’m not pleased that I’m the reason for why you do it now. That it doesn’t drive me insane sometimes, thinking about this summer. All that free time on our hands. Spending days at a time together - we wouldn’t even leave the bed unless we had to.”

Stiles felt his insides start to twist and pressure building in his abdomen. He let out a low whine and bucked his hips up, tilting his head back before he looked up at Derek. “Oh my God....” He whispered, closing his eyes tightly for a few moments before he opened them again. “I’m gonna come, Der. Can’t...” He whined again and moved his hand faster, bucking his hips up when he finally reached his climax as Derek’s name spilled from his lips like a broken prayer before twisting into a loud shout. Derek’s eyes widened and he couldn’t bring himself to move for a second at the sight of Stiles coming like that. He leaned forward quickly, quieting Stiles’ shout with his lips. Once it seemed that Stiles had calmed down from his orgasm, Derek pulled away laughing.

“To think, that’s the loudest you’ve ever been for me and I wasn’t even touching you.”

Stiles panted heavily, slowly smiling as he nuzzled against him. He loved Derek’s reaction to his climax and laughed breathlessly. “I’m learning to not hold it in.” He said softly. “And now I see why I should really let it all out.”

“I’m glad you did,” Derek said softly, unable to stop smiling. “Though I really hope Erica and the others don’t think something’s wrong. That was... God,” he said, laughing again.  
“Was I that loud?” He asked, leaning over until he fell against Derek’s lap.

“For human ears, probably not. But yeah, you were.” Derek said and pressed his fingertips against Stiles’ hair, massaging into his scalp. “It was awesome.”

“Mm.” He hummed in content, tracing Derek’s thigh as he closed his eyes. “Good.” He slowly grinned, opening an eye to look at him. “So, are you still going to fuck me?”

“I’ll give you a few minutes, but yeah.” Derek said quietly. He was content after that to just sit there a little while, studying Stiles’ face and forgetting about everything for a while. “Do you think this summer you might... stay with me for a while?”

Stiles nodded at that as he made himself more comfortable. “Yeah, that sounds good. I’m totally up for spending the parts of the summer that I’ll be here with you.”

“Are you going somewhere then?” Derek asked, quirking his eyebrow up as he frowned a little.

“Mhmm.” He nodded slowly. “Going to a Lacrosse summer camp thing for almost a month. Coach’s orders. The whole team’s going.”

Derek’s hand stilled for a moment before resuming their massage of Stiles’ scalp. “Where?”

“I think it’s near Tampa.” Stiles said softly, tracing Derek’s side gently.

Derek frowned completely then, his hand going still again. “Florida.” He said carefully. “You’re going to be all the way across the country, in Florida, for a month.”

“Uh...Yeah, I was going to tell you soon. When all of this is all over with, it was when I was going to let you know.”

Derek bit his tongue to hold back the plethora of things he could come back with. That even if things did calm down once Summer hit, he wouldn’t have handled it any better then than now. That somewhere out there, there was an alpha pack that he knew he needed to be worried about as a new alpha. That in this life, in the world of werewolves, there really wasn’t any such thing as _over_. That... That he didn’t want Stiles to go. That he’d go with him - bring the whole pack along - if he had to.

Eventually, what came out was, “How soon in the summer?”

“I leave July 15th and I’ll be back the....6th, I believe.” Stiles said softly, feeling really guilty about it, but at the time he paid for it, he didn’t know that he would have a boyfriend and all this other stuff going on. “I’m really sorry, Derek.” He said softly, sitting up so he could rest their heads together. “We could take a road trip before then, if you want?”

Derek swallowed hard, nodding slowly as he looked up at Stiles, staring into his eyes. He knew that there was probably no talking Stiles out of going, not without making Stiles feel worse. “I’ll try and be okay with it.” He said. He didn’t trust himself to be able to say anything further on the matter without coming off as an asshole. He closed his eyes, wrapping Stiles up in his arms and pulling him a little onto his lap, burying his face against Stiles.

“If you don’t call at least once a day while you’re gone, you realize I’ll probably come find you right?”

“After that I’ll spend as much time as I possibly can with you.” He promised him, gently kissing his cheek as he held him close. “And yeah, I’ll call you every day, send you pictures, and Skype with you if I can.”

Derek exhaled sharply, nodding. “I really hope things just calm down. I want to be able to do this without all this weight on my shoulders... All this responsibility.”

Stiles nodded and ran his fingers through his hair so that he could help him feel a little better. “It’ll all get better soon. It has to.” He told him softly.

“It’s just there’s something that...” He trailed, the impulse to just unload everything that was bothering him weaker than his impulse to protect him from it. To protect him from the knowledge of truly knowing everything so that - much like Stiles wanting to wait to tell Derek about the Lacrosse camp - he could handle it easier.

The logic was hypocritical though and he knew it even as he thought it. “There’s something I’ve been keeping to myself. Just because it hasn’t become a problem yet... And with this whole Kanima thing, everyone’s already got enough to worry about.”

Stiles furrowed his eyebrows at that and cocked his head as he gently rubbed the back of Derek’s neck. “What’s going on?” He asked softly, trying not to get really worried about what Derek could possibly be keeping to himself. “We’re dating, I’m supposed to worry about you.”

“I know, and the reason I haven’t said anything isn’t just you. Its Erica and Isaac, Boyd, Scott - everyone.” Derek said and sighed through his nose, letting his head fall so his chin rested against his chest. “There’s a pack - they travel around the country seeking out Alphas, especially new ones. The other reason why I was building my pack so fast - not just the Argents - was because of them. They’re... They’re alphas. All pack of them.”

Stiles sure as Hell wasn’t expecting that of all things to be the problem and had to take a moment to make sure that he was being completely serious. “You’ve got to be kidding.” He mumbled, shaking his head and sighing. “Well that’s really not good. I’m assuming by the way that you were hiding it is because if they find you, you’re in deep shit.”

“I’ve heard stories about them, from other packs that Laura and I came across on our way to New York, even from my uncle.” Derek said and took a deep breath. “The way Scott thinks of my decisions is tame compared to what I’ve heard about this pack and what they do. So yeah, they decide to drop by Beacon Hills, I’m in deep shit. And from what that Omega told the Argents, its possible they already know.”

“Fuck.” Stiles sighed as he tilted Derek’s chin up and rested their heads together. “I’ll help you in anyway that I can, alright? You just need to tell me what I need to do and I’ll do it.”

“Just keep it to yourself, that’s all I ask.” Derek said, lifting his head at Stiles’ insistent touch. “I didn’t want to worry anyone about it, just because I’m still not a hundred percent sure they’re even going to show. I haven’t been an alpha that long, maybe they just haven’t caught wind of it yet or maybe they don’t care.” Derek said and shifted his weight. “Just thought you ought to know, at least.”

Stiles nodded at that and pressed a gentle kiss to his forehead. “I’ll keep it to myself as long as it doesn’t become a big problem. Well, I mean, bigger.” He said softly, running his fingers through his hair. “Thanks for trusting me.”

Derek snorted, “The only way it could become a bigger problem is if they show up - in which case, it won’t matter if you say anything or not.” Derek said and leaned his head into Stiles’ touch. “Can we just forget that for now and get back to what we were doing before?”

“Of course we can get back to what we were doing. I really, really doubt that I will ever say no to having sex with you. Unless you really piss me off or something, but even then we could still have angry sex.”

“Guess its kind of bittersweet that I don’t plan on pissing you off again any time soon.” Derek said, nuzzling his way to Stiles’ neck, biting down.

“I’d sure hope not.” He stated before biting down on his lip to muffle a low moan. “So, uh, I have a question for you. Does your biting kink come from your wolf side wanting to capture its prey or something? Just curious.”

Derek let go of Stiles’ neck, shifting a little underneath him as he thought. “Do you want the real reason or is ‘no’ enough?”

“I want the real reason.” Stiles stated, grinning as he sat back a little so he could look at him. “If you haven’t figured it out yet, I want to know everything about you.”

“I have,” Derek said and let out a quick sigh. He rubbed his hands along Stiles’ skin as he talked, across his thighs, “It was my first attempt at anything after... Well, after Kate. We met at this bar and her name was Becky and she was absolutely not my type, but she was horny drunk and apparently I was her type.”

Across his hips, fingertips digging a little into Stiles hips as he pulled him forward as he scooted forward on the seat. “We didn’t even get out of the parking lot, just screwed around in the back of her car. She bit me about half-way through and it was like... I don’t know. It hurt, but at the same time I wanted more. That was the first time someone bit me.” Across his back now, lightly pressing his nails against it and dragging them down.

Stiles couldn’t help himself from getting a little jealous when he discovered that this really wasn’t the first time that Derek had messed around in the back of a car. He nodded slowly as he listened though, rocking his hips down against Derek’s every now and again just so he could mess with him. “I’m hoping that it’s best when I bite you, because I like to consider myself an awesome biter. Except I feel bad because I’ve drawn blood twice.”

Derek chuckled, “She was drunk and before we even got back inside I was having to hold her hair while she threw up, so that should make you feel better.” He said and licked his lips before expertly rotating his hips up against Stiles, retaliation that only ended in making his own neglected boner ache.

“Yeah, its not so bad aside from the last time.” He said quietly, focused on trying to speak. “Not that I didn’t appreciate the fact that you were biting me, I was tempted to free your arms before you did. Its just a lot better when you can bite and scratch me easily.”

“Ew, that’s absolutely disgusting. I will try my best to promise I will never throw up on you or near you if I get wasted around you.” Stiles stated, shifting his hips a little. “I’ll keep in mind to keep scratching and biting you whenever I can. You have a body that I just love to latch on to.”

“I don’t know, you seem to start doing it automatically now. And don’t think I haven’t noticed you copied my biting method.”

“Hey, it seems to turn you on the fastest, doesn’t it?” He asked with a laugh and a shrug of his shoulders. “And I kind of like biting you, even if the marks don’t last.”

“You should try biting me when I drink,” Derek said, “It might stay then, at least till the wolfsbane is out of my system. Could be another one of your ‘scientific’ experiments.”

“I’ll do anything for Boyfriend Science.” Stiles slowly grinned, raising his eyebrows. “I’m excited now because all my nail marks and bite marks will stay on you long enough for me to get really good pictures of it.”

“They _might_ ,” Derek laughed. He leaned his face forward, kissing Stiles’ collarbone. “Enough talking.” He murmured, parting his lips over the spot so he could graze his teeth along the tighter skin there.

“For science.” Stiles whispered before he snorted. “Fuck, okay, yeah. No more talking. More making out and fucking, less talking.”

Derek lifted his head away from Stiles chest and gave him a level look, quirking an eyebrow up before shaking his head and going back to biting him (on his shoulder this time).

Stiles gasped out when he was bitten, tilting his head back before he rocked his hips over Derek’s again. He slowly grinned and leaned down before he slowly licked his shoulder.

Derek sighed in mild annoyance, choosing instead to let go of his bite and pull Stiles up from his thighs so he could get his boxers off, at least around his ankles. Once they were he looked up at him, “You want to find where you tossed that lube?” He asked.

“Yeah.” Stiles nodded, climbing off of him so he could look around for it. He finished tugging his jeans and boxer briefs off so they could get into it easier before he grabbed the bottle and climbed back onto his lap. “How should we do this?”

“Not a lot of options that will be comfortable for any length of time aside from this position we’re doing right now. If the seat were a little wider we’d have more choices.” Derek said, scratching the back of his neck a little as he looked around the car. He shook his head and looked up at Stiles, “So, are you ready to go again completely, or did you just want to focus on getting me there and being done?”

“Oh I am totally ready for your fabulous dick.” Stiles grinned at him before he climbed back onto his lap. “I don’t mind riding you again, it’s pretty fun.” He winked at him as he moved his arms around his neck.

Derek chuckled, “You enjoy being a sub, don’t you?” Derek asked, smirking as he cracked open the lid to the lube.

“Fuck yeah I do. I enjoy anything that involves you putting your cock in me.”

Derek smiled widely at that, laughing a little. He shook his head, returning his attention to what he _should_ be doing - which was getting some lube warmed up. He squeezed some out of the bottle onto his fingers, his hands between them, warming it up before reaching between their hips to slick himself up. “Its really stupid how hot it is when you say shit like that.”

“Oh really? It’s hot when if I tell you that I went shopping for sex toys so I could have something to use when I’m not with you?” Stiles asked curiously, trying to stop himself from grinning.

Derek’s eyebrows raised until he physically could not raise them any higher. “That’s um... You’ll have to show me. Definitely. No arguments.”

Stiles laughed a little and nuzzled their noses together. “I got it as close to your dick as I could.”

“I bet you did,” Derek said, slipping his hand out from between them as really there was no need to touch himself with how eager Stiles seemed to be. Derek bumped their noses before leaning his face away. “But you know what’s better than that little toy, right?”

“Mmmm....” Stiles paused, pretending to think about it for a moment. “I’m gonna have to say....your dick?”

Derek grinned, “Obviously.” He said and glanced down between them. “Might be easier if you do this part, cause I honestly can’t see what I’m doing.”

Stiles nodded at that, shifting a little before he lowered his hand and gently gripped the base of Derek’s cock so he could position himself over him before he slowly lowered down into him. He cursed under his breath and bit his lip, inhaling sharply through his nose once he was seated on his lap. Once he was used to the feeling, he slowly opened his eyes so he could watch Derek as he began to move over him slowly, mostly just to torture him.

Derek let out a happy hum, sighing through his nose. He rubbed his hands along Stiles’ thighs, not even caring that he still had lube covering one of them. “You’re getting good at that...” He murmured, resting his head against the seat.

Stiles nodded as he dug his nails into Derek’s shoulders. “I’m getting used to you.” He whispered to him, grinning a little as he tried to keep his breathing even.

“That’s good,” Derek murmured back, catching Stiles’ chin in his hand and pulling their mouths together. His kiss was slow, but straight to the point, pressing his tongue against Stiles’ lips.

“Mmm.” Stiles hummed against his mouth, letting his eyes fall closed at the feeling before he started to move his hips at a faster pace.  
Derek moved his hands around to Stiles back, his hips rolling a little as Stiles moved faster. He gently nipped at Stiles’ mouth, leaning his head forward against Stiles’ chest. His fingertips pressed in where his hands were held.

Stiles huffed against his mouth before he pulled away, letting his head fall to Derek’s shoulder so he could run his tongue along his skin before biting down. He did it softly at first to leave just an indent before he began biting harder.

Derek huffed then, “Being a little snippy, aren’t you?” He said, and even still he couldn’t stop the reactive way his skin bumped up. He lifted his head, resting a cheek against Stiles’ head. “Do you think.. Do you think you could come again - if we tried?” He asked.

Stiles laughed a little breathlessly against his skin and lessened the pressure of his bite so he could shake his head a little like a wolf with a fresh kill for a moment before he let go. “Define, uh...’tried’.” He said softly before letting out a moan as his hips stuttered.

Derek let out a breathy laugh at Stiles’ ‘wolf shake.’ “I mean, your cock’s right here,” Derek said softly, bringing his right hand from around Stiles’ back so he could get his fingers around Stiles’ cock. “All I have to do is this.” He said, slowly starting to stroke his hand up.

Stiles let out a noise that started off as a whine before quickly turning into a louder, strangled moan. “F-Fuck.” He moaned again, canting his hips up against Derek’s hand. “I-I thought it’d make you really happy if I just came mostly from your dick in me.”

“Nah, I already did enough experimenting for one go ‘round.” He said, moving his hand a little faster. “Besides, I enjoy touching you a lot better.” Stiles whined at the feeling and dropped his head back down against his shoulder before biting him again to muffle his noises.

Derek brought his free hand to rub against Stiles’ neck, stroking his cock the entire time. “I can only imagine how sensitive you are right now...” He murmured, bringing his thumb over the tip. “You’re just so eager to make sure I’m happy too.” He said and turned his head so he could just gently murmur into Stiles’ ear. “I would bet that you’ve been thinking about this too. Seeing how many times you can come in a row, how long in between is too soon and not soon enough. I know I’ve been thinking about it.” He said, smiling a little. “Maybe I should get you a stopwatch...” He teased. He could feel the warmth pooling in his gut, a sure sign that he was getting close.

Stiles groaned and moved to rest his chin on his shoulder. “Three times and then I’m pretty sure I need to take a nap.” He got out between his moans as he tried to move his hips faster and find a really good rhythm between Derek’s hand and his dick. “May, uh, fuck, need a nap after this.” He whispered, trying his best to stay focused enough to talk.

Derek adjusted how he was moving his hand until it seemed Stiles was happy with the rhythm. “Just - hmmm, fuck,” Derek hummed out. In lieu of saying anything further he just focused on trying to keep moving his damn hand, because _fuck_ if Stiles wasn’t going to make him come in the next twenty seconds with this he would be a very surprised Derek Hale.

Stiles began to drag his nails down Derek’s shoulders over and over, keeping the pressure hard as he repeated the action. He quickly began to moan out Derek’s name again as his movements became erratic before he climaxed with a loud moan again.

Derek groaned, thrusting upwards as Stiles’ orgasm spilled out onto his hand and his stomach. He let go of Stiles’ cock and grabbed onto his hip, fingertips digging in a little as he made quick use of his less occupied mind and focused on himself. He came hard, and inaudibly, his eyes squeezing tight as he did. “F-fuck,” he breathed, humming a little. “Christ..” He said, swallowing dryly.

Stiles nodded in agreement, panting heavily as he buried his face in Derek’s neck. Every now and again he gently kissed the skin, closing his eyes as he tried to let his body calm down.

Derek just relaxed into the seat, rubbing his hands constantly over every inch of Stiles’ back. “Wish we were in my bed.” He mumbled.

“Me too.” Stiles mumbled, feeling like he was just on the verge of passing out. “I just want to cuddle you and sleep all night.”

“You could, y’know.” Derek said, laughing a little. “Stay the night, I mean.”

“I’m grounded.” He whined, nuzzling his cheek against his skin. “Come stay at my place.”

Derek groaned, “When are you going to be _not_ grounded?” He asked, letting his head smack against the back of the seat.

“Soon.” He murmured, nipping at his ear. “I don’t know if he’ll keep me grounded on my birthday. I sure hope not.” Stiles slowly sat back so he could look at him and grinned. “Come stay the night. We can cuddle all night.”

Derek snorted, “I think perhaps first we ought to clean ourselves up and head back inside.” He said, glancing down at his stomach where Stiles’ orgasm was starting to dry and stick. “I think we might have to sacrifice something to do that though, ‘cause... I don’t have anything out here.”

“We can lick it off.” Stiles stated simply, really being of no help since he was sleepy from orgasming twice in a short time. “I wanna go to bed with you in my bed.”

Derek rolled his eyes, sighing. “All right, why don’t I clean us up, I’ll take you upstairs and you can get a nap in, then we’ll go to your house and stay the night. Does that sound okay?” he asked, raising his eyebrows at him. Stiles just began whining in protest, burying his face in his neck as he tightened his grip on him slowly.

Derek frowned, shaking his head. “Come on, Stiles. Work with me here.”

“I don’t want to let you go.” He said softly, nuzzling against his neck. “And if I nap upstairs, won’t wake up to go home.” He mumbled, already starting to drift off.

Derek nodded slowly, “All right, well, are you too tired to drive home then? Because your dad can’t see me with you, unless you want to get even more grounded.”

“Scott took my car.” He said softly, pulling away a little so he could look up at him before he rubbed his eyes.

“Right...” Derek said and bit at his lip for a second. “Okay, so...” he started and sighed. “Okay, you’re sex drunk and I have no idea what to do here.”

Stiles smiled a little before he dropped his head on his shoulder. “Uh, just uh....Leave me in here and I’ll nap in the seat and then you can just uh...I dunno take me home and I’ll go through the front door.”

Derek nodded, that sounding as good a plan as any - and he hadn’t been coming up with good ones. “That works, I guess,” Derek said and rubbed his hands along Stiles’ sides. “You’re going to have to move to the other seat though, I don’t have the room to maneuver you off myself.”

Stiles nodded at that and sat up a little so he could kiss his cheek before he climbed off of him. He mostly flung himself off of Derek so he could move with less controlled effort and had to take a minute to just curl up on the seat and close his eyes again. “Can I use your jacket?” He asked softly.

“Yeah, one sec,” Derek said and dug through the mess of clothes on the floorboard, separating theirs out. To clean himself he sacrificed his boxers. To clean Stiles, what little needed to be clean, he used the henley he’d (Derek) been wearing. After that he put on his jeans, took his cigarettes and his phone from his coat and pocketed them before covering Stiles with it. He leaned over him and pressed a kiss to his temple. “I’ll be back down in a few minutes,” he said, brushing his nose against the side of Stiles’ face.

Stiles smiled when Derek kissed him, opening his eyes before he looked him over. “You’re sexy.” He told him softly, turning so he could kiss him. He soon pulled away, wrapping Derek’s jacket more around him. “If the pizza is here, bring back two boxes so we can eat at my place.”

Derek snorted, “I’ll bring back what the pack hasn’t devoured already.” He said, climbing carefully out of the car. He shut the door as gently as he could and still get it shut properly. He jogged around to the stairs, taking them two at a time, not surprised to find that the pack was sitting around the platform, eating and talking. They stopped when he came back in.

“Where’s Stiles?” Erica asked with a wink and Derek rolled his eyes.

“I gotta take him home. Did the pizza get here?” He asked.

“Like half an hour ago,” Boyd told him with a smirk. Derek blinked.

“Right,” he said and the three of them rolled their eyes almost in unison. He shook his head and after grabbing a change of clothes for himself upstairs he came back down. Erica met him at the stairs and held out a pizza box.

“We are most of it, but we left the one Stiles go for you two alone and there’s a few cheese sticks in there too.” She offered. Derek gave her a small smile as he took the box.

“Thanks, I’ll be back in the morning, probably,” he said and moved the pizza as Erica wrapped him in a tight hug.

“Take care of him,” she said softly, pulling away and tucking her hair behind her ear.

“I always do,” he said and gave Isaac an Boyd a wave which they returned before he left to meet Stiles back in his car.

Stiles slowly made himself get dressed, mostly keeping his eyes closed as he slowly moved his body. When he was finally dressed, he slowly moved to the front seat and used Derek’s jacket as a blanket again.

It didn’t take himself too long to get comfortable before he closed his eyes and let himself start to drift off again.

Derek got to the car not long after, setting his spare clothes and the pizza in the backseat before climbing into the driver’s seat. He pulled out a cigarette as he started the car before fastening his seat belt. As he lit up, he looked over at Stiles, smirking a little. He hoped he wouldn’t have to finagle a way to carry him inside. He shook his head, cracking the window a little and starting the drive to Stiles’ house. Stiles curled up a little when the car started, slowly opening his eyes before he glanced back over at Derek. “Der.” He said softly, slowly closing his eyes again as he lifted his hand a little and waved it a bit. “Hold my hand.”

Derek smirked, reaching over the console and catching Stiles’ hand before lacing their fingers together. “Get some sleep, you’ll be home in no time.” He said softly, giving Stiles’ hand a small squeeze as he one-hand turned onto the road.

“Yeah, I can do that too.” He said softly, leaning over and dropping his head on Derek’s shoulder before he drifted off to sleep quickly.

Derek chuckled, turning his head to kiss the top of Stiles’ before focusing his eyes back on the road. He drove a little slow, wanting to enjoy the drive and also wanting to give Stiles a little time to sleep before having to walk from the park to his house.


	30. Epiphany

The two of them still made decent time getting to the park and Derek turned off the car when he parked, trailing his hand across Stiles cheek and his nose. “Time to wake up,” he said softly.

Stiles groaned in protest and slowly opened his eyes, furrowing his eyebrows a little as he looked up at him. He had started to drool on Derek’s shoulder, but he figured that Derek wouldn’t really mind it. “Where are we?” He asked softly, rubbing his eyes with the back of his hand.

“The park where you parked my car that night. I didn’t know if your dad would be home to see me dropping you off so I figured I’d just save time and park here now.”

“No, no this is perfect.” He said softly, nuzzling his head on Derek’s shoulder again for a moment before he slowly sat up and got out of the car. He grabbed his backpack and moved it around his shoulders before looking back at Derek. “Want me to put your clothes in here?”

“That’ll make things easier for me,” Derek said with a shrug as he got out of the car, locking the doors, grabbing the pizza before he closed his door.

“I wish that you could give me a piggy-back ride.” He mumbled, putting Derek’s clothes in his backpack. “But that can wait for another day.”

Derek laughed, “Agreed.” He walked around the car with the pizza, unashamedly looking at Stiles’ ass as Stiles put his clothes into the backpack.

Stiles shifted his hips and swayed them side to side as he packed his clothes, needing some movement to wake himself up. He soon stood back up and closed the car door and looked back at him. “Ready?”

“Huh...? Oh, yeah,” Derek said, registering what Stiles had asked a half-second after. “Lead the way,” he said before clearing his throat, a red flush creeping on his cheeks just a bit.

Stiles blinked slowly and slowly smiled wider as he took his hand and leaned against him. “Did you uh, just check out my ass?”

“Maybe...” Derek said, holding back a smile. “Though you can’t say you haven’t done the same to me.”

“I’m always looking at your butt.” He replied, bumping their hips together.

Derek rolled his eyes, “Exactly my point.” He said with a light laugh, tugging a little at Stiles’ hand as he started walking towards the park exit.

“Well have you seen how awesome your butt it? I’m pretty sure you could bounce money off of it.”

“Please don’t,” Derek laughed, shaking his head.

“Wow rude.” Stiles laughed a little as he leaned against him. “So I think I’m going to get you an award for being the world’s coolest boyfriend.”

“An award, huh,” Derek said, raising his eyebrows over at him.

“Yeah. You’re really the coolest. I mean, fuck. I could go on about you for days.” Stiles grinned up at him as he intertwined their fingers together. “You’re just incredible.”

“Maybe you just don’t know me yet,” Derek said, his smile fading a little. “There’s a lot of things I’ve done, that I will likely have to do that not even you could look past.”

Stiles stopped walking, keeping a hold of Derek’s hand as he stared at him. “Don’t say that.” He told him softly.

“What am I supposed to do, lie?” He asked, stopping too. “Say that I haven’t done terrible things? Say just because people used me, that the bad things that happened weren’t just as much my fault? Say that they won’t happen again - because that’s a load of shit. I’m not the person you like to think I am Stiles and I’m not pretending to be either.” He said and huffed a breath. He didn’t want to start an argument, not on the side of the road, not with Stiles. “I’m sorry, that’s just the way I see it.”

Stiles looked really upset by his his words and swallowed hard, looking down at the ground as he tried to think of what he could say. “I’ve done some bad things too, Derek, but that doesn’t mean that you should stop liking me. It doesn’t mean that I’m not the person that you think that I am either or that I don’t have good things about myself.” He said softly, letting go of Derek’s hand as he took a step back. “Just because you’ve had bad happen in your life, it doesn’t mean you’re ruined, Derek. It...” He trailed off, almost saying that it didn’t mean that he shouldn’t love him. He swallowed hard, feeling his heart pound in his chest and his eyes glaze over from the sting of Derek’s insecurities and emotional pain mixing with his own.

Derek pulled his hands down his face, working them around his neck and locking them together. He could feel how upset Stiles was now, smell it in the air and it made it hard for him to breathe. “You are my anchor, Stiles. I couldn’t possibly stop caring about you or liking you. That doesn’t mean that I feel like i deserve how good you are to me. I can’t focus as well when you’re not around because I’m always worried that something’s going to happen. I want to be next to you every second, to do what I am supposed to do as your alpha.” He said and let his hands fall to his side, taking a small step towards him.

“The bad things in my life, they’re what kept me sane before you came along. I let my anger drive me, anchor me down. Now that you’re with me, I don’t know what to do with it anymore. I feel lost. I want... God, Stiles - I want you. None of this fucking matters to me. Killing Jackson is important, the alpha pack is important, but nothing else matters to me if I can’t keep you safe and I - I know from my past that I can’t do that. I didn’t keep my family safe from Kate, I didn’t go with Laura and keep her safe from our uncle, I didn’t keep anyone safe from him. Who’s going to be next?”

He slowly blinked his eyes, sitting down at the edge of the sidewalk and angrily taking out a cigarette. “Every time I let my guard down with someone, they die. If that happened to you, I would leave. I would leave and I’d have never come back, which is what I should have done with Laura. She was my alpha, I shouldn’t have let her leave like that. She shouldn’t have gone alone... Left me alone.”

Stiles quickly moved his arms around his neck tightly, pulling him close and holding him there. “I’m yours. I’m yours.” He repeated softly, running his fingers through his hair. “You aren’t going to lose me, Derek. You won’t.” He said softly. He didn’t know what to do to help Derek feel better about everything.

“I want to take your pain, Derek. I wish that I could take all of your pain away so you didn’t have to feel like this.” He moved his hands to cup Derek’s face, resting their foreheads together as he stared up at him. “Let me take some of it, Derek. Let me in and talk to me. I cannot physically take everything away, but I can emotionally. You tried your best and while it seems like things always go wrong, I promise that it won’t with me. I won’t let myself get killed, Derek! I won’t let you be left alone ever again.”

Derek knew that Stiles was basically asking him to trust him. That’s what it all boiled down to; trust. That’s what he had to ask himself - if he trusted Stiles. If he cared about him enough to stop shutting him out of everything... If he loved him.

“Okay,” he said in answer, the most his raw sounding voice would let him past the lump in his throat. “I’ll tell you anything you want to know, everything. All of it.” He said and lifted his hands to hold Stiles’ wrists.

Stiles nodded slowly, smiling a little for Derek’s sake as he looked into his eyes. “Okay.” He told him softly. “Just let me be your anchor and I’ll do my best to help you.” He searched his eyes for a moment, not sure what exactly for. He felt like he had given Derek an unspoken ‘I love you’ and it felt completely right. He slowly moved one of his hands out of Derek’s grip and moved his arm around his neck before kissing him.

“Let’s just um..” He started, clearing his throat and swallowing hard to clear the lump that refused to go away. “Let’s just go back to your place and take it from there.” He said, getting up from the sidewalk and tucking the filter of his cigarette between his lips, taking a long drag and exhaling it sharply.

Stiles nodded and kissed his cheek softly before he pulled away from him and took his hand again. “Yeah, let’s go.” He said softly.

Derek kept a soft grip on Stiles’ hand the whole way, glad that Stiles was carrying the pizza so he could smoke and calm down. It helped almost as much as Stiles’ slowly calming heart helped. He’d finished his cigarette by the time that they reached the tall fence that separated Stiles’ yard from their neighbors and he snuffed it out under his foot. Stiles’ dad was home, though the only light still on came from the kitchen.

“Should I check if he’s awake or do you just want to go on ahead?” He asked.

“I’ll go on ahead.” Stiles told him softly, smiling a little at him. He gently squeezed his hand before letting go, kissing his cheek. “Just head up to my room and I’ll be there in just a few minutes. I’m gonna grab up some plates and some drinks.” He murmured before he headed inside so he could get everything out of the kitchen. He made his way through the lower level of the house quietly, not wanting to draw attention if his father was still awake.

“All right,” Derek said and once Stiles was on his way to the front door, he made his way to the back porch and started his way up to Stiles’ room. He paused there, listening just in case. Relief flooded through him as he heard the sheriff reading in his own room. He eased open the window and climbed through, shutting the window behind him silently. He didn’t touch the light switch, not wanting to draw attention any more than Stiles was trying to avoid downstairs. He toed off his shoes, using the small bit of light from the window to blindly find his way to the computer chair where he sat down and waited.

Stiles slowly tiptoed upstairs, casting a glance at his father’s room before he looked back at his own door. He slowly went to his room and set the pizza on his desk before he looked over at Derek. “I’ll be right back, I’m going to check on my dad.” He whispered to him, undoing his jeans before he shimmied out of them and pulled on some pajama pants to make it look like he wasn’t running around all hours of the day.

He kissed his cheek softly, grinning a little before he went to go to his dad’s room. He knocked lightly before he opened the door and poked his head in. “Hey, Dad.” He said softly, smiling at him. “How’re you doing?”

John slowly looked up from the fishing magazine he’d been staring at and looked up at Stiles. “Tired, but all right. Nothing went terribly wrong today, so can’t complain.” He said and sighed as he tossed the magazine on his nightstand, rubbing his hands across his eyes. “You have a good day at school?”

Stiles nodded at that, opening the door more. “Not much to tell. I helped Scott study for his make up test so we’ll see how that went.” He said softly. “Did you eat?”

“Yeah, the last of that salad you had in there for me.” He grumbled. “Anything else would have required work to make, otherwise I’d have a happy stomach full of bacon and eggs right now.”

“Hold that though, I’ll be right back.” Stiles piped up, heading to his room and grabbing one of the plates he brought up for him and Derek before he dished up a few slices and one of the cheese sticks he had planned on eating before he headed back to the room. “Okay, okay, I know I told you that you aren’t really supposed to eat this kind of pizza, but you deserve it and consider it kind of a peace offering.” He smiled at his dad as he held it out to him.

John took the plate like it was the last plate of food on the planet. “I feel like there’s a catch to this,” he said before picking up the cheese stick and taking an unhealthily large bite. “But I’ll let it slide.” He said around the bite of food. “You’re still grounded until next weekend.” He admonished, waving the cheese stick at Stiles before taking another bite.

Stiles groaned at that, tilting his head back for a moment. “Of course I’m still grounded, fair is fair. As long as I’m not grounded on my birthday, I don’t really mind it.”

“Of course, you’re off the hook on your birthday.” John said, making a face. “Why would I punish you on your birthday?”

“I don’t know! Some parents punish their kids on their birthdays as a form of torture!” Stiles exclaimed with a laugh. “Also, uh, for my birthday, is it okay with you if I spend some of it with Derek? I mean, of course we’ll go out to dinner or something with you, me, Melissa, and Scott, like always, but yeah. Also I didn’t say Derek for the dinner part because it’d probably be awkward considering you almost arrested him the other day for thinking I was blowing him while driving.”

John wiggled the cheese stick in his hand before setting it on the plate and putting the plate on his night stand. “Look, kid. I’m not happy with your behavior recently, you know that. And I still don’t know what’s really making you do it - so... I guess what, I’m trying to say is that you can spend time with Derek if you do me the small favor of letting me meet him. For real, maybe at your birthday dinner, I don’t know. I just.. Want to make sure that you’re dating someone that I can trust.” He said and gave Stiles a small smile.

“Don’t think I don’t realize how much older than you he is either.” He said, raising his eyebrows at Stiles.

Stiles laughed a little at that and nodded. “Okay, I’ll talk to Derek and see if he’ll come to dinner. I don’t think I’ll have to twist his arm too hard to get him into the idea.” He said softly before raising his eyebrows at the mention of the age difference. “True, but here is my counter to that. In a lot of states, the age of consent thing is that as long as the adult party is seven years older and below, it’s fine. So I was thinking maybe we could go along with that rule?” Stiles interlocked his fingers together as he thought of what to say.

“I know you’re worried, it’s the whole ‘I want what’s best for my kid’ fatherly thing. But uh, with Derek...Everything feels so...right. It’s not just a teenager falling for the bad boy thing, I can promise you that. He’s really nice to me and he’s so good to me. He’s always making sure that I’m completely comfortable with him and he listens to everything I say. He doesn’t just write me off as some crazy hyperactive kid like most people at my school usually do, he actually tries to take the time to understand my thought process and he’s patient with me. He’s someone that I can open up to about things that I can’t talk about with just anyone. I’m just really lucky to have someone like him in my life and I really think I...” He trailed off, slowly smiling as he talked about Derek. The more he thought about it, the more he realized that there could be no other explanation.

He was completely and totally in love with Derek.

The longer Stiles went on about Derek, the more John grinned. “You love him... Don’t you?” John asked.

Sitting in Stiles’ room, Derek was sitting on the edge of his seat, no longer half-listening and the piece of pizza he’d been eating was frozen half-way up to his mouth. He’d only just realized himself that all of his feelings weren’t just because Stiles was his anchor - which in hindsight he should have realized sooner - and now he was listening to Stiles go on to his dad about him and he couldn’t move. He had to know the answer, he had to. He slowly lowered his food to the plate and listened.

Stiles grinned as he thought more about it and nodded. “Yeah.” He finally spoke up after a few moments. “I think I might be totally...in love.” The words tingled on his lips once he finally said them, but they didn’t feel out of place at all. He laughed a little, crossing his arms over his chest. “I am actually...in love. Like, I thought I was in love with Lydia all that time, but holy...shit. This is like...Huge. Holy shit..I’m _actually_ in love with him.”

“Hey, language,” John said, but he was still smiling and he looked really happy. “I’m really glad for you, son. I always hoped you’d find someone, someone who’d give you something like what your mom and I had.” He said softly and sniffed through his nose before picking his plate back up. “All right, go on. Let your dad eat and get some sleep, huh?” He asked, leaning back on his pillows.

Derek’s heart felt strangely calm as Stiles agreed with what his dad said, where a moment before it had been wanting to implode. “Shit,” he breathed to himself and he realized that Stiles probably hadn’t even thought about the fact that he could hear every word. Or what if he had? He sighed and picked the piece of pizza back up, deciding if Stiles didn’t say anything about it then he wouldn’t ask. He doubted highly that Stiles wanted to tell him in that way, and it wasn’t how Derek wanted to tell Stiles - eavesdropping and saying it back when Stiles returned. He just waited, pensively eating and trying to look as though he hadn’t heard a thing. It was a little harder, bringing his indifferent mask up, because a million thoughts and possibilities were racing through his head - but he did.

Stiles nodded and hugged his dad before he stood up. “Thanks for chatting and stuff, sleep well.” He murmured before heading out of his father’s room.

He quietly crept to his room and opened the door before he remembered a few very important things. Derek was in his bedroom. Derek was an alpha werewolf. Werewolves had very good hearing. Oops. He couldn’t help but still feel really happy though and that outweighed the mental beating he was doing to himself almost completely. He slowly shut the door and locked it before he went over to Derek and gently kissed his neck. “Sorry I took so long.”

“It’s okay,” Derek said, ignoring the urge to say something about Stiles’ conversation as soon as he walked in. He figured the best way to give himself (and Stiles) an out was to ask questions about it that he’d know the answers to, if he’d been listening. “How’s your dad?” He asked, raising his eyebrows. “Still intent on arresting me?”

“I think as long as he doesn’t think you’re defiling my innocence or just fucking me in public, he’s cool with you. He wants you to come to my birthday dinner so he can meet you from a real ‘my son’s first boyfriend’ perspective.” He said softly, almost wondering if he should tell Derek about his epiphany. “But uh...” He slowly trailed off, looking down at Derek’s mouth as he slowly grinned. “I kind of like it when you ruin my innocence.”

Derek nodded, snorting a little at the last bit. “Eat your pizza you horny little ferret,” he said, waggling his eyebrows at him before taking a bite of his pizza to make his point - though he didn’t have much of a point.

Stiles smiled widely and shook his head. He quickly kissed Derek’s neck before he grabbed a slice of pizza and moved to sit on the bed. “I expect you to sleep in your boxers tonight, okay?”

Derek chuckled, “Jeans too much for you?” he asked, picking a piece of pepperoni off of the second slice and popping it into his mouth.

“Yes. Because I want to cuddle with you in just our boxers. Be glad I’m willing to let you wear any amount of clothing.”

“Yeah, yeah, all right.” Derek said, setting down his food. He leaned back in the computer chair, tapping his foot on the ground a few times. “So, about what I said earlier...” he said, his voice trailing.

“Mmm?” Stiles looked up at him as he took a bite of his slice of pizza. “What’s up?”

“I just don’t want you to look at me differently, once you know everything.” Derek murmured, slowly raising his eyes to look at Stiles. “I don’t even know where to start first.”

Stiles furrowed his eyebrows and held his hand out to Derek. “I won’t.” He said softly. “Come sit here with me.”

Derek got to his feet, taking Stiles’ hand and walking over. He sat at Stiles’ feet, resting his head against Stiles’ knee. He rubbed his cheek against Stiles’ knee, closing his eyes and breathing slowly, trying to not let himself get worked up.

Stiles smiled a little as he ran his fingers through Derek’s hair and bent down to kiss his head softly. “Remember, if it gets really hard, you don’t have to keep going. I’ll understand.”

“I just don’t know where to start...” He said quietly, opening his eyes a little. Leaning back so he was resting against the side of the bed, letting his head rest against the corner that the mattress and Stiles’ leg made.

Stiles nodded and moved his legs flat against the bed so he could put Derek’s head on his lap. “It’s okay, Der. Don’t try to force it.” He told him softly, running his fingers through his hair and gently massaging his scalp to help relax him.

Derek nodded slightly and closed his eyes again, enjoying the feeling of Stiles’ hands on his scalp. He thought for a while about what he should tell Stiles first. The fact that he had figured anything out about loving Stiles so fast was making that difficult. In all honesty, the thought of love and trying to remember made him think of Paige... But he couldn’t speak about her. Never, or at least not yet. He swallowed hard, he still wasn’t ready for that.

He thought about Kate next and he knew that was likely the easiest thing to talk about, considering Stiles knew a little about it already. So, he decided, I’ll tell him that.

“How much do you know about the fire?” Derek asked softly, opening his eyes and staring up at the ceiling.

“Uh, somewhere between the basics and about everything from a police perspective. I know about everyone who was involved, and then you told me that you and Kate were together.” Stiles told him softly. “I don’t exactly know all of the details, especially from your point of view.”

“Right,” Derek sighed out. “Kate was uh... Kate was my girlfriend - at least I thought at the time. Probably should have realized the fact that the only time she ever bothered to call, was to fuck or talk about my family, was a warning sign. She’d always made it seem like she cared, like there was nothing more important to her than learning about us. I figured, stupidly, that maybe because of her family being hunters - that was the reason he didn’t talk about them much.” He paused, biting at his lower lip.

“She’d told me the day before it happened that I should spend time with my family, instead of with her, but I didn’t listen. The next day, Laura and I were talking between classes and then all of a sudden we both feel this... This hollow tearing in our chests and then Laura’s crying. and and she just kept saying, ‘something’s happened to mom. Something is wrong... We have to go home.’“ he paused to blink a few times.

“We didn’t even make it out of the school before we were called to the office and the police told us what had happened. Laura, she’d stopped crying by then and just looked... well, I’m sure you know the face I make when I’ve shut down...” He said and brought his hand up to wipe at his face. “We lost all of our family, our entire pack in just a few moments. The sick thing about the whole thing isn’t just that it happened either -there were people in that house, humans. My brother being one of them.”

“Laura talked to the police the most - I ended up just sitting and waiting.” He laughed a little. “I remember this kid, at the station hugged me because he said I looked like I needed it. I think I kind of scared him, ‘cause I growled and told him to go away...” he said and cleared his throat. “After we left, we stayed at a motel and once things had calmed down she put the family money into setting Peter up for his care in the hospital and getting us as far away from Beacon Hills as possible.”

He lifted his head from the bed and looked down at his hands. “I had nightmares for almost a year after the fire. I was a stupid kid, but even I knew that Kate had something to do with it. I hated her, I wanted to kill her, but I blame myself just as much for being so blinded by a beautiful woman.” He spun his bracelet around his wrist.

“In my dreams I’d be standing outside the house watching. Looking between the flames and seeing them die with Kate standing there next to me laughing as if it were actually funny. The first few months I’d try to save them in the dream and I’d wake up with Laura holding me because I’d scream for them in my sleep.” Derek clenched his jaw, taking a shaky breath.

“It turned from that to me dreaming I was killing Kate. I’d sink my claws into her and she’d still laugh. Those were worse because I’d wake up and Laura would be pinning me down, screaming at me to wake up, to shift back... They didn’t really stop until Laura and I finally talked about why I was having them and even then it took a while for them to stop. She’ alway tell me it wasn’t my fault, that I couldn’t have known, but it wasn’t true even if she believed it. I saw it after the fire, I should have seen it before.”

Stiles listened patiently to everything that Derek had to say, continuing to try and soothe him. “Derek, there was no way that you could have known. She made it so that it seemed like she was completely interested in you and she did her best to do it so you wouldn’t suspect otherwise. She was psychotic, Derek.” He told him softly, feeling a dull ache as he thought more about how much it still hurt Derek. “She’s a manipulator and she would have done it one way or the other.” He murmured.

He thought about how Derek mentioned a kid at the station, furrowing his eyebrows before he realized just who he was talking about. “Oh my god, Derek. That kid was me. I remember I was at the station with my dad when the call came in. He told me to stay put because he needed to help some kids. And then he got back and told me he had a lot to work. And then I saw you sitting there, with your head in your hands and I told my dad that I was going to go talk to you, because my mom had always told me that if when someone’s hurt, the best thing that you can do is find a way to ease some of their pain.” He smiled a little, running his fingers over his cheek.

“He uh, told me to leave you alone, that you just went through something horrible. Honestly, that just made me want to help you more. So I went over and hugged you so that I could try to take some of your pain. It looks like I’ve been trying to be there for you and take your pain away since the beginning.” He felt so bad that Derek had to suffer through nightmares and go through even more pain. He didn’t know what he could say to help him feel better, since there always seemed to be more pain for him to go through. “If you still ever get nightmares, I’m here for you. Even if you have to run to my room and shake me awake to talk, I’m always willing to listen and comfort you in any way that I can.”

Derek frowned, “That was you?” He asked, “Jesus...” He whispered and shook his head. “I haven’t had a nightmare since Laura died, but I’ll take you up on that if I need to if you do the same.” He said and leaned his head back to look up at Stiles. “So now you know everything about Kate.” He said.

Stiles nodded and bent down so he could kiss his forehead softly. “Thank you for telling me, Derek.” He told him softly. “I know it wasn’t easy to confide something like that in me, so really, thank you for trusting me that much.”

Derek nodded. “After everything that’s happened since I got back, I need to start trusting someone and if I can’t trust my anchor then what’s the point?” He asked, raising his hand to brush his fingers across Stiles’ cheek.

Stiles slowly grinned at that and nodded as he ran his fingers through his hair. “That’s very true. Are you ready to get under the covers so I can aggressively cuddle you all night?”

“If you’re finished eating,” Derek said, chuckling. “Thank you... For listening, and trying to make me feel better - today, and that day... I don’t think it helped, but it was the attempt that matters, I guess.”

“Well yeah, of course I’ll listen to you and help you feel better. That’s what anchors and boyfriends are for.”

Derek smirked, slowly getting to his feet, “So, birthday dinner. With your dad.” He said, remembering what Stiles had said before the whole heart-to-heart.

Stiles paused a little, cocking his head as he watched Derek. “So you were listening?”

“You told me I was going to have an awkward ass birthday dinner with your dad, of course I was listening,” Derek said, though he knew that’s likely not what Stiles was asking.

Stiles moved under his covers, slowly grinning as he cocked his head. “Oh yeah. It probably will be kind of awkward. Especially since you’ll end up having two parents judging you.” He grinned at him, holding his hands out to him. “Strip faster. I want to cuddle your hot body.”

Derek rolled his eyes, “So demanding.” He teased, working his shirt over his head, and then stripped his jeans off before crawling under the covers with Stiles. “Wait, two parents?” He asked, keeping up the lie. It honestly wasn’t that hard.

“Mhmm, we always go out to dinner with Scott and his mom on birthdays.” He said softly, shamelessly staring at his body as he stripped. He slowly grinned, moving his leg around his waist so he could curl up with him more. “Fuck, you are gorgeous.”

Derek hummed in response, cuddling up closer to him and slipping his top arm around Stiles waist. “Mmhmm, ditto.” He said with a smirk.

Stiles slowly grinned at that and raised his eyebrows. “You really think so?” He asked softly as he traced his side.

“Stiles, I don’t stay with people I don’t find at least semi-attractive. You’re definitely in my top 5 sexiest people I’ve been with.” He said with a laugh. “Though in my defense the number I’ve been with doesn’t even make the double digits.”

“So, does it count if I say you’re my number one when you’re my only one?” Stiles asked with a grin as he leaned forwards and ran the tip of his tongue along his jaw.

“It does, I think,” he said and laughed when Stiles licked him. “I shouldn’t have started the whole licking thing, huh?”

“Well, it’s in your blood to lick things you like.”

“That’s not how it works, Stiles,” Derek chuckled. “Besides, as you know, the way I mark things I like requires a bit more teeth and a bit less tongue.”

Stiles snorted a little and gently bumped their noses together. “Yeah, I know that first hand. So, you wanna hang out after school tomorrow?”

“We did talk about having that movie night. I figured I’d probably spend the day cleaning up for that, set up for the full moon, all that... _fun_ stuff.”

“Do you need me to help you out with anything?” He asked him softly as he ran his fingers over back of his neck gently. “Oh yeah, so I changed my tattoo design a little. I want a triskele with honeysuckle growing around the spirals. Now I just need to figure out when I should get it done, and also talk to my dad about it.”

Derek nodded, “You know, you’ll be able to get it without his permission if you just wait for your birthday.”

“Eh, I figured I should at least do one thing right while I’m still in high school.”

“Point taken,” Derek said and nuzzled his face into Stiles’ neck, curling up against him. “The inks should be in soon, so whenever you’re ready.”

Stiles nodded and shivered a little at the feeling. “Fuck, your scruff is tickling me.”

Derek laughed, “Is that your way of saying I need to shave?”

“No, it’s just my way of saying that you’re tickling me.” Stiles snickered.

Derek rolled his eyes, “Wow, it was so subtle though. Can you blame me for being so confused?” He asked sarcastically.

“Don’t be, I like your scruff. It’s adorable.” Stiles murmured as he closed his eyes.

Derek huffed, “You must be really tired if you can’t recognize that as sarcasm.”

“Most of the time I just ignore your sarcasm.” He piped up.

“Same here... I try to anyway,” Derek said, adjusting his arm so he could trace his fingers across Stiles’ back.

“You can’t ignore my sarcasm, you love my sarcasm.” Stiles murmured sleepily, yawning lightly as he ran his fingers through Derek’s hair again. “Who would’ve thought that Derek Hale is such a cuddler? I should call you Cuddles.”

“I’m going to have so many nicknames I’m going to lose track, aren’t I?” Derek asked quietly, restraining himself from yawning as well after Stiles did. “Then again, I’d have to be keeping track at all, which I’m not.” he said with a laugh.

“Wow, rude.” Stiles laughed lightly. “Ugh, I’m tired. Sex with werewolves takes a lot out of a guy.”

“Then go to sleep,” Derek murmured, brushing his cheek against Stiles’ neck again.

Stiles squirmed a little at the feeling before he nodded. “Mmm. Night Derek.” He said softly, feeling himself already drifting off.

“Night, Stiles,” Derek whispered, letting the sound of Stiles’ breathing lull him to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry for the lack of update last week! We both got really busy and it completely spaced my mind that I needed to update. Anyways, thanks for being so patient with us!


	31. Sleeptalking

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Your eyes do not deceive you, we're back! Thank you all so, so, so much for your patience and for everyone that has continued supporting this fic! You all mean so much to us, and we're back with a vengeance to supply you all with more Sterek goodness!

Derek woke up to the sound of Stiles’ mildly irritating alarm, groaning and taking the pillow to cover his ears. “Stiles...” he grumbled, “alarm.”

Stiles groaned and moved his limbs tighter around Derek as he whined in protest. “No.” He said softly, nuzzling Derek’s hair. “Five more minutes, Mr. Bubbles.” He mumbled.

“Does it turn itself off?” He asked, moving the pillow from his face to look at Stiles. The sunlight shining in the room made him squint.

Stiles let out an incoherent jumble of words before he groaned again. “Maybe if you put it in your mouth.” He mumbled in his sleep.  
“You are so not a morning person,” Derek grumbled back, trying to ignore the sound of the music until a minute or so later when it stopped. “Thank God,” he breathed, nuzzling his way closer to Stiles neck. “You need a better alarm. Something less... Grating, after just waking up.”

Stiles let out another incoherent noise. “Don’t bite down. Doesn’t like that.” He murmured before squirmed a little. “No, noooo, Mr. Cat, not on the neck. Giraffe’ll get jealous.”

Derek pulled away from Stiles neck and raised his eyebrows. “Stiles?” He asked, holding back laughter. “Stiles are you even awake?”

Stiles moved to bury his face in his neck, holding him a bit tighter before he slowly began to lick his shoulder and drool all over him. “Oh my god, my boyfriend is disgusting,” Derek laughed, trying very weakly to push Stiles away. “Dude, come on. Why?”

Stiles mumbled against his skin and started to lick him again before he nuzzled against him. “Thanks for the ice cream.” He mumbled lightly to him. “S’all for now.”

Derek sighed, “Stiles!” He said loudly. He hoped Stiles wouldn’t be too upset with him, but clearly an alarm and saying his name repeatedly at a normal tone wasn’t doing anything.

Stiles yelled out and jumped away from Derek, falling right off of the side off the bed and taking the blankets with him as he hit the floor with a thud. “Fuck...” He groaned out, rubbing his head. Derek tried to catch him before he fell, only managing to get a fistful of the blankets instead. 

“You okay?” he asked, grimacing. “I am so sorry.”

Stiles let out a loud groan, wiggling his leg that was still halfway on the bed. “You’re not nice.”

“And you were talking about ice cream and giraffes in your sleep.” Derek said with a chuckle. He offered his hands out to Stiles. “Let me help you up.”

Stiles groaned a little and took his hand before he climbed onto the bed. He thought for a few moments before he climbed right onto Derek’s lap and wrapped his limbs around him tightly. “Mmmm, much better.”

Derek laughed, “Yeah, how’s your head?” he asked, reaching up to brush his fingers lightly against where Stiles had smacked it.

“Maybe if you kiss me better it won’t hurt.” Stiles winked at him.

Derek snorted. “Worth a shot,” he said, pulling Stiles’ head down to press their lips together. Stiles grinned against his mouth, nipping lightly at his lip before gently running his tongue over it. Derek smirked in return, opening his mouth a little more and catching Stiles’ tongue with his own. He eased back down onto the bed, laying down. Stiles slowly lowered a hand while the other rested on the back of his neck, running it over his chest and stomach gently as he slid his tongue into his mouth. He lightly ran his nails over his chest, making little marks every now and again.

Derek hummed happily. He ran his tongue along the side of Stiles’. He worked his fingertips under the waistband of Stiles’ boxers, grabbing Stiles’ ass with both hands. Stiles slowly grinned and pulled away a little so he could rest their foreheads together. “Is that your favorite place to put your hands?”

“One of them,” Derek said with a smirk. “Why?”

Stiles snorted a little and rolled his eyes. “Well, at least your hands aren’t cold.”

“Kind of a werewolf perk. The uh, the healing ability makes our body temp run a little higher than humans.” Derek said, shrugging.

Stiles raised his eyebrows a little and thought about it before he nodded. “No wonder I like cuddling with you.”

“And here I thought it was because I’m special,” Derek teased, giving Stiles’ ass a squeeze.

“Nah, I wouldn’t go that far.” Stiles laughed, nuzzling their noses together before he leaned up and gently bit at his nose.

“I do believe I should be offended by that,” Derek laughed, nipping back at him.

“You’re super special. So special that words can’t describe.” He murmured as he cupped Derek’s face in his hands and brushed their lips together. “You’re special in more ways than one, that’s for sure.”

“That’s more like it,” Derek murmured, bumping their noses together. “You should probably get ready for school...” He said after a moment.

“I don’t want to get ready for school. I want to stay here and give my really warm werewolf boyfriend a ton of attention and affection.” Stiles piped up as he smiled widely at him.

“And I don’t want you to go to school at all, but you can’t always get what you want,” Derek said, smiling back up at him. “Unless you’re willing to skip school.”

“I think you’re becoming a bad influence on me, Der.” Stiles joked, raising his eyebrows a little. “Mmmm...I think I might be able to do that.”

“If I get to spend a day with you, I don’t care if I’m a bad influence.” Derek said with a laugh. “Besides, I think we deserve a day off.”

“Mmmm, that we do.” Stiles thought about the pros and cons of spending the day with Derek and skipping school and slowly nodded. “I’ll stay with you.”

“Hmmm, perfect,” Derek said and shifted his legs under Stiles hips. “I’ve got some ideas as to what we can do,” he said, grinning.

“Like what?” Stiles grinned down at him, crooking an eyebrow a little as he cocked his head.

“Breakfast somewhere, go back to my place, set up your present and then do whatever for a few hours. Maybe each other if you play nice.” He said with a wink. “Then movie night and... I don’t have anything planned after that.”

“I’m liking all of those ideas very much.” Stiles said softly, kissing his jaw softly before making a small trail down to his neck before gently biting. “I could make you breakfast. Like actual breakfast.”

“Mmmm, that could work too,” he said, tilting his head to the side to give Stiles better access.

“I’m gonna make you some awesome breakfast. It’ll be like an orgasm in your mouth, and then hopefully you’ll orgasm in my mouth.” Stiles snickered as he bit down a bit harder.

Derek hummed in response, taking in a slow breath between his lips. “Y’know... gonna be hard sitting through breakfast with you doing that to me _now_ instead of after.”

Stiles grinned and sat up a little so that he could look at him. “What makes you think that I wasn’t planning this?”

Derek rolled his eyes, “Guess I should have known better from the last time I stayed all night.”

“My bed is awesome for sex.” Stiles said softly. “One of these days, I want to have intense headboard banging against the wall sex.”

Derek laughed, groaning as he remembered his bed. “Fuck,” he said and brought his hands to cover his face. “I forgot about my bed... helping Erica, I didn’t even think about cleaning it after.”

“I’ll help you clean it off.” He said softly before he leaned down and slowly licked up his neck. “I can probably do that with a lot of things really.”

Derek chuckled, “I bet you could.” Derek said and moved his hands from his face, resting them on Stiles’ lower back.

“There’s that unicorn of a smile.” Stiles said softly, nipping at his jaw. “So uh, dessert or breakfast first?”

“Ask a person that, you should know the answer is going to be dessert,” Derek said with a laugh.

“Well you aren’t exactly a normal person, so uh, you never know with you.” Stiles grinned against his skin before he began to kiss down his neck.

“I can be normal,” Derek said defensively, tracing his fingers lightly up Stiles’ back. “Normal’s just... boring.”

“Exactly. I don’t want normal. Especially since I’m dating a sexy as fuck werewolf.” He said softly before he pulled away and slowly smirked. “I think we should have some wicked awesome rough sex.”

Derek raised his eyebrows up at him, half-smiling. “And what exactly is your definition of rough here?”

“I don’t freaking know, I was hoping you would brainstorm with me and help me figure it out. I’m mostly just rolling with the different ideas in my head when they come.”

Derek smiled completely then and laughed. “Okay, okay, I get it.” He said and bit his lower lip as he thought. “We could just roll with it, y’know. Do nothing we haven’t already done, but leave what happens up to the moment. Be spontaneous.”

“That sounds good.” Stiles murmured, gently bumping his nose to Derek’s. “Basically as long as I end up with your dick in me, I’m pretty happy.”

Derek laughed, “So you keep telling me.” He said and lifted his head to press their lips together.

Stiles kissed him back, grinning against his mouth before he pulled away and sat up. “So if we’re gonna bang, you totally don’t need these anymore.” He said softly, dipping his fingers under the waistband of his boxers. He slowly got a mischievous look on his face and lifted the band of them before quickly letting go so it could audibly smack down against Derek’s skin.

Derek growled a little in response. “You don’t need yours either.” Derek said, narrowing his eyes at him.

“That’s very true. You could rip them off of me.”

Derek raised his eyebrows. “Don’t care if these are ruined then, I guess?”

“Nah, these are a dime a dozen. And I think it would be sexy to see you be an alpha male.”

“So you want me to be your alpha then?” He asked, sitting up with Stiles as he let his eyes shift red. “Because you should know, I’m totally fine with that.” He said, smirking.

Stiles couldn’t stop himself from letting out a low moan as he stared into Derek’s eyes. “Oh, fuck yes.” He breathed.

Derek grinned, pressing their mouths together as he lowered his hands to Stiles’ boxers. Even with permission he still felt a little bad when he ripped his claws into the elastic to tear it before shifting his nails back. Stiles grinned against his mouth, biting at his lip as he lifted his hips a little. He slowly pulled away and raised his eyebrows. “So it’s official. You being rough with me is hot as fuck.” He murmured as he leaned forwards before gently biting Derek’s lip.

“Oh, I’m just getting started,” Derek grinned, tearing Stiles’ boxers off the rest of the way. He wrapped his arm firmly around Stiles’ back, quickly flipping them over. He fervently pressed their lips together, working to get his own boxers off with one hand without ripping them off. Stiles grunted against his mouth lightly before he quickly got caught up in Derek’s kiss as the hairs on his arms and the back of his neck quickly began to prick up. He nipped playfully at Derek’s lip, trying to do something to keep his mind working just a little. Derek slipped his tongue into Stiles’ mouth, throwing his boxers away from the bed the second he’d worked them off. He rested his arms on either side of Stiles’ head, sighing happily through his nose.

Stiles lifted his hips up to lightly rut against Derek’s and torture him just a bit. He groaned lightly against his mouth and rubbed his tongue against his. Derek groaned a little into Stiles’ mouth, breaking the kiss. He immediately latched his mouth onto Stiles’ neck, biting down. He lowered his hand between their hips, palming his hand against their cocks, pressing them against each other.

Stiles cried out and bucked his hips up against Derek’s. He quickly moved his hands to his hips and dug his nails into his skin. “Holy shit, Der.” He whined lightly as he rocked his hips up against him. Derek smiled a little against Stiles’ neck, keeping his teeth against him as he pulled away, grazing the skin until it wouldn’t pull with his teeth any farther and slipped out. He flattened his tongue against the spot, licking the imprint. He pressed his hand against their cocks a little rougher, stroking slowly.

Stiles cursed loudly at the feeling and writhed under Derek for a moment. He began clawing at Derek’s hips until he felt his nails breaking the skin. He let out a keening noise and moved his hands to Derek’s ass before pressing him down so he could move more against his hips.

Derek moaned against Stiles’ neck, huffing a breath through his mouth. “Why do we never grab the lube _before_ we start doing this?” He asked, panting out a laugh, running the tip of his tongue up Stiles’ neck to his ear.  
“That’s a very good question.” Stiles laughed a bit breathlessly, raising a hand a little before he slapped Derek’s ass. “Fetch, boy.”

Derek growled, fixing his still red eyes on Stiles before moving them over to the nightstand. He stepped a leg off the bed just long enough to grab the lube before coming back over. “Just so you know,” he started, using his thumb to press open the bottle. “Every time you make a dog joke, I’m going to find a way to torture you.”

Stiles could stop himself from smirking as he raised an eyebrow. “Oh really? Maybe you should find a way to punish me.” He said softly, propping himself up on his elbows. “I really wanna see what you can come up with. Or you can keep growling at me. That’s hot too.”

“Or maybe me _not_ growling can be your punishment.” He said, grinning. He tapped the lid of the lube on Stiles’ nose, bringing it back down so he could squeeze a bit onto his fingers. “Turn around.” He said, flicking his eyes up to Stiles as he sat the lube down, warming what was on his fingers.

“You could make me.” Stiles piped up but soon obliged anyways and rolled over onto his stomach. “We’re gonna have to make use of my collar soon. I really wanna test it out one of these days.” He said softly, wiggling a little by rolling his hips on the bed.

“We could do that later today.” Derek suggested. “Don’t worry about it right now.” He said, reaching his clean hand up to grab Stiles’ large pillow. “Onto your knees for me.”

Stiles groaned a little in protest but did what he was told and got onto his hands and knees for Derek. “I guess I can listen to you this once.”

“You’d better damn well listen,” Derek muttered to him, shoving the pillow under Stiles and pressing down on the small of Stiles’ back so his hips rested on the pillow. “Because I won’t repeat myself right now.”

“What happens if you have to repeat yourself for me?” He asked curiously, glancing back at him with a grin on his face.

Derek slowly lifted his eyes to meet Stiles’. “You can go to school and I’ll go home.” Derek said, smirking a little.

“Oh my god, why? That’s not even fair.” Stiles whined, dropping his head down onto his bed.

“And having to repeat myself when I’m doing both of us a favor isn’t fair either,” Derek said with a chuckle. He ran he dry hand along Stiles’ back, lightly trailing his nails along his skin. “But I don’t think you’ll have any problems being a good boy, right?”

Stiles shook his head at that, closing his eyes as his arms quickly became covered in goosebumps. “No, I’ll keep being good for you.” He said softly.

“Because when it comes to the bedroom,” he said softly, bringing his hand to Stiles’ ass and palming the cheeks apart so he could lightly trace his finger against his hole. “Doing things like this, you like being obedient, being a good boy. Being mine.”

Stiles gasped out and whined against his bedding as he squirmed a little at the feeling. “I love being yours. Especially now that I know I can get you like this.” He said softly.

“You can always have me like this,” Derek murmured to him, leaning over him so he could press a kiss to his back. “I’m yours, you’re mine - and I won’t let anything...” Derek said and started to ease his first finger in. “Or anyone, take you away from me. Not now, not ever.”

Stiles let out a low moan, reacting mostly to Derek’s voice. “I - Fuck, Derek. Nothing can take me from you.” He groaned lightly, really, really liking Derek this way.

“Or me from you.” Derek added softly, slowly working his finger in up to the knuckle. He leaned over Stiles again, pressing kisses across Stiles’ shoulder blades as he started to work his finger in an out of him.

Stiles let out a light noise, starting to breathe heavily as he slowly rocked his hips a little. “Never.” He said softly, reaching back so he could hold his hand out for Derek to take. “I’m yours. You’re mine.” He groaned out. Derek took the offered hand, squeezing it as he let Stiles rock back against his hand. He took his finger out partially, just long enough that he could slip in another next to it, curving them so they would hit Stiles’ sweet spot.

Stiles cried out and moaned louder as he let his head drop back down to the bed. He closed his eyes tightly at the feeling, canting his hips a little in an attempt to help him brush against it again. “S-So uh, are we gonna fuck Doggy-Style because it’s a...alpha male mounting his mate or something sort of thing?” He couldn’t stop himself from asking that, mostly wanting to bug Derek a little.

Derek huffed a breath through his lips, the warmth hitting Stiles’ back and warming his own face. “We’re fucking like this because you wanted rough, it’s just easier this way.” He said, pressing his fingers against Stiles’ prostate for a second, going back to his slow steady thrusting of his hand immediately after.

“I’m just gonna keep believing it’s a dominant wolf - Fuck!” Stiles exclaimed, his voice raising in pitch for a moment as he squeezed Derek’s hand. “O-Okay, okay, okay....I uh...I think I need your dick in me like now. O-Or I’m not gonna last at all and I will be soooo disappointed in myself.” He rambled quickly, writhing a little under Derek.

“You think?” Derek asked, smirking. “All right, I’ll play nice.” He said, but just to fuck with Stiles he brushed his fingers against Stiles’ prostate one last time before slipping them out. He gave Stiles hand a small squeeze before letting go so he could grab the lube again, warming it up on his fingers before slicking himself up. “Remember your safe word, just in case I get too... Enthusiastic, for lack of a better word.” Derek said, waiting for Stiles’ confirmation.

Stiles let out a loud whine before groaning a little. “O-Okay, I’m remembering the safe word and ignoring the urge to kick you.” He said softly, letting his hand fall so he could grip the bedding tight in both hands.

Derek let out a soft snort, shaking his head. He responded only by giving Stiles’ ass a firm smack, rubbing his hand over the cheek as he moved to rest it on Stiles’ hip. He lifted his cock with his other hand, lining himself up with Stiles’ hole and exhaling audibly as he brushed his tip against it. He pressed his hips forward as he guided himself in, at the same time bringing Stiles’ hips closer with his hand. “I love it when you’re like this,” he breathed, staring with half-lidded eyes at Stiles.

Stiles let out a yelp when Derek spanked him, canting his hips before he bit his lip. He didn’t know why he liked that so much, but he knew that he was going to have to start asking Derek to start doing it more often for him. “Y-Yeah?” He asked, squirming a little when Derek began to fill him. “I love it when you fuck me, so I guess we’re even.” He laughed a little before moaning lightly and burying his face in the bedding.

Derek huffed out a laugh, sighing once he’d gotten half way in. He pulled his hips away, the starting thrust before he started to push himself farther in with each rock of his hips. He had both hands on Stiles’ hips now and once he was to the point where he’d been burying himself all the way into him, he started to push-pull harder and faster.

Stiles whined a little at first before he gasped and gripped his bedding tighter. He cursed lightly under his breath between his light moaning. His noises slowly began to increase in volume as Derek’s pace increased. He quickly bit down on his comforter to muffle his noises and felt it quickly start to get wet due to the saliva pooling in his mouth from his arousal.

Derek kept his pace steady, increasing only the force with which he pressed into Stiles. He listened carefully to Stiles, anticipating every sound he made and biting his lower lip as he tilted his head back. He was going to come pretty quick at this rate, but he didn’t care. Stiles wanted rough, he was going to get it. He pressed his fingertips into Stiles’ hips to keep him from shifting in a way that might make him slip out, his breath coming in short and quick pants. “Fuck,” he moaned out.

Stiles bucked his hips and squirmed under Derek’s grip a little as he tried to move with him. He let out a muffled shout against the bedding and had to stop biting it so he could throw his head back and let out a loud moan. He remembered how Derek reacted to when he was loud in his car, so he was going to try his best to give Derek what he wanted. He began letting out a medley of half-curses and moans, all quickly forming into a mixture of a moan and a shout when he came hard.

A very tiny part of his brain wanted him to go climb under a rock and die for coming so fast, but the rest of him was enjoying the very strong climax that he was still riding the high off of. The poor kid even blacked out for a moment.

Derek’s fingers twitched harder into Stiles’ hips as he listened to how loud Stiles was being for him. Were it not for the growing smell of Stiles’ own orgasm hitting his nose he might have been ashamed at how Stiles’ moaned shout had made him come. He kept up his thrusting through his orgasm, slowing to a stop and leaning forward to rest his cheek against Stiles’ back. “God damn,” he laughed, turning his head so he could kiss Stiles’ back before straightening back up and carefully slipping out of him. “You are learning too well, maybe,” Derek mumbled, sitting back on his feet as he let his head hang as he recovered.

Stiles let his body drop back onto his bed, unable to keep himself up without Derek’s hold on him. He let himself lay limply on his bed, his body shaking a little from the force of his orgasm. As his eyes closed, he let out a light hum of content to let Derek know he had heard him. Other than his labored breathing through his nose, he stayed quiet for a few long moments. “We should...make this a thing.” He whispered, too exhausted to even look up at Derek. His whole body felt heavy and he felt like his entire being had been reduced to a quivering 147-pound pile of mush.

“I think I can manage that,” Derek laughed, shifting onto his knees before carefully getting up. He was a little wobbly, but managed to stand. “I’ll get something to clean this up, okay?” he asked and leaned over the bed to kiss Stiles’ cheek.

“Mmmm...” Stiles didn’t even try to force himself to move. “You uh...go and do that...I uh, think you fucked the consciousness out of me.” He murmured slowly, using more than a little effort to continue talking. His words got quieter as he talked before he finally drifted off to a deep, well deserved sleep.

“Mission accomplished, I suppose,” Derek chuckled, brushing his thumb against the curve of Stiles’ ear before striding into the bathroom. It took a minute for him to find what he was looking for, having never actually been in Stiles’ bathroom for anything other than a one-time hiding place. He came back out with a towel and a handcloth, cleaning Stiles off before himself, which was quite easy with Stiles having passed out.

He stayed a little while, just watching Stiles as he slept with a stupid grin on his face. He felt happy; truly and undeniably, happy. He shook his head finally and got dressed, snagging his keys from his coat and locating a stack of post-its on Stiles’ desk. He scribbled out a quick note, ‘Getting breakfast, be back soon,’ before he left.


	32. Superheroes and Family Photos

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, another update, yay two in one day! <3 This chapter is super long, but it's my treat to you all for hanging in there with us! Thanks again! Unless I get too excited, there will be more to come next week!
> 
> And here we are lulling you all into a false sense of security with more fluff. I think we have one more chapter of fluff and then it'll be swan diving right back into the pain we're all familiar with!
> 
> \- Melo

A half hour later Derek was back at Stiles’ house with a to-go bag of assorted breakfast foods and two still extremely hot cups of coffee. He is thankful that the front door is unlocked, the thought of trying to get all of that upstairs via his normal route all ending in his mind with hot coffee spilling over him and his attempt at being nice ruined by the food going everywhere but their stomachs. He leaves it all downstairs on the kitchen island, going upstairs to check on Stiles.

Stiles was exactly where Derek had left him, aside from now having a black microplush blanket wrapped around himself. When he heard Derek’s footsteps, he stirred a little and opened an eye. He had to blink a few times before he slowly smiled and sat up. “Hey.” He murmured, his voice rough with sleep.

“Come here.” He held his arms around to him, letting his blanket fall back to the bed since he knew that his extremely hot werewolf boyfriend could warm him up again. “You didn’t stay and cuddle me.”

Derek laughed lightly, tossing his keys on the desk and slipping off his shoes before joining Stiles in the bed. “I figured I’d let you sleep,” he said and wrapped his arms around Stiles’ chest and hugged him tightly. “I got us breakfast, it’s downstairs in the kitchen.”

“Mmmm. Did you bring me a deer?” Stiles asked softly, burying his face in Derek’s neck so he could hide his grin. “Maybe a few rabbits? If you cook them, I’ll eat them.”

Derek snorted and rolled his eyes. “No, I didn’t. It’s biscuits and gravy, hashbrowns, eggs, bacon... I didn’t know what you’d want so I got a couple containers with a bit of everything.” He said, resting his lips after against Stiles’ shoulder.

“That’s really sweet and really adorable.” Stiles said softly, nuzzling against his boyfriend as he began tracing his back. “So, we had mind blowing sex so we can check that off the list, so breakfast, going to your place, and doing everything else that was on your list?”

Derek smiled against his shoulder, lifting his head and nodding. “That sound about right.” He said and quirked his eyebrow up when he heard his cell phone blaring out his general ring tone from his back pocket. “Hold that thought,” he said and shifted around so he could get his phone and raise his eyebrow a little higher at the unrecognized number. He pressed the button to answer it and raised his phone to his ear.

“Hello?” he asked.

“Is this Derek Hale?” the female voice on the other end of the line asked.

“Depends on who’s asking.” Derek responded, flicking his eyes over to Stiles, frowning.

“Name’s Laureli. You applied to my shop, left a pretty decent portfolio too.” she said. “You still looking for work? ‘Cause I might have some hours for you, if you’re still interested.” Derek carefully got up from the bed, switching his phone to his other ear.

“Y-yeah, yeah, I’m still looking. What are the hours?” Derek asked.

“Noon for four every day except for holidays and Sundays. It’ll be temporary, for now at least. One of my other aritsts, Carol, went to some club and got roofied or something. I don’t know, you in or out?” Laureli asked, sounding a little agitated.

“In, definitely in. When do you want me to come in?” He asked.

“If it’s not too short notice, we could use you tomorrow. Carol had a bunch of appointments scheduled and most of my other workers aren’t able to fill in. I can’t do it, so that leaves you. You up for it, Hale?”

“Absolutely, I’ll be there.” Derek said and after a couple more minutes of going over whatever paperwork he’d need to bring in before she could officially let him work, he ended the call.

Stiles was really confused by the phone call at first, but the more he listened, the more he relaxed and smiled. He was so excited that things were looking up for Derek and he was also shamelessly excited that he was dating a tattoo artist.

He got up with Derek, staggering a little on his feet for a moment before he moved his arms around his waist and rested his head on his shoulder. Once Derek was off the phone, he gently kissed just under his jaw. “Congrats, Der. I told you that you were amazing. When they see how fantastic you are in action, they’ll have no choice but to take you on long term.” He murmured as he began to rock side to side.

Derek was still stunned that he’d gotten a call. “If I’m lucky, I’ll have to go through some of my stuff when we get back, I don’t know where my license is and I might have to get it renewed.” He said, staring at his phone for a minute before he saved the number under ‘Laureli.’

“This is so awesome!” Stiles grinned, burying his face in Derek’s chest. “So, what hours will you be working for now? If I can, I’ll come see you.”

“Noon to four, you’d have to drive over straight after school if you wanted to see me work,” Derek said, pocketing his phone before he rubbed his hands up and down Stiles’ arms a couple times. “Come on though, get dressed. Food’s going to get cold.”

“That’s totally something I can do. And if I talk to my dad, maybe I’ll make an appointment with you and get you to stay a little longer.” He grinned at him before nodding. “Yeah, just let me get some pants on and I’ll devour that food like you would devour a deer.”

Derek laughed, “Good luck.” he said and scratched the back of his neck. “So, movie night. You said you could take care of the TV and stuff, but you didn’t exactly say how. Are we just going to borrow yours or something?”

Stiles paused for a moment and slowly laughed nervously. “Well, uh, you’re probably gonna get mad at me, but uh...” He pulled away and put on his boxers again before heading to his closet.

He pushed out a large red violet box with a big picture of a TV on it and the words ‘32’ inch HDTV’ all over it. “Uh....Surprise?” He said softly as he stood up straight again.

Derek stared dumbly at the TV, not registering what Stiles had meant for a second. “You - you bought a TV? Stiles, those are like _two hundred bucks_ , what...” he cut himself off, sighing and closing his eyes. “Please tell me that’s all you bought and we’re borrowing your Xbox or something, because I don’t have a DVD player either and I seriously might strangle you if you did.”

“More in the vicinity of two hundred and seventyish...” Stiles murmured under his breath. “But none of that is important! It’s yours now and yeah, of course we’re gonna use my Xbox for movies! I’d rather not have you kill me for going overboard with it.”

“I heard that,” Derek grumbled, shaking his head. He didn’t know whether to thank him or smack him upside the head for spending so much money, so he decided to do his best to ignore the urge to do either until the urge to smack him had abated a little. “Moving past the fact that I don’t even know how you have that much money to spend, I’m going to go downstairs and get breakfast onto plates or... something that doesn’t involve thinking about the fact that you bought me a TV.”

“Give me blow jobs once a week for the next five years and we can call it good.” Stiles grinned at him, laughing a little as he went over to him. “I’m sorry, I just wanted to do something really nice for you, because I mean...It’s probably been such a long, long time since someone actually spoiled you.” He told him, moving his arms around his waist. “I’m declaring myself your Sugar Daddy. Or would it be Sugar Baby...”

“How about neither?” Derek asked with a grimace, sighing before wrapping his arms around Stiles. “Thank you, but seriously, a TV? I get being nice and all, but that’s an expensive TV, Stiles.”

Stiles shrugged a little as he pressed a light kiss to his Adam’s Apple. “If I could, I would give you everything.” He told him softly before he glanced up at him. “So, for now I’m giving you a TV, and all of me.” He smiled a little, shrugging again.

Derek shook his head, “I don’t think I’ll ever stop saying this, but you’re ridiculous.” he said and kissed the bridge of Stiles’ nose. “Get dressed, we still have food waiting downstairs.”

“You’re pretty damn ridiculous too, it’s one of my favorite things about you.” He grinned up at him before nodding and slapping Derek’s ass. “I’ll be down in a minute. I already packed up some movies, my Xbox and other fun stuff so we can eat and leave.”

“We’ll have to stop somewhere on the way, but yeah, okay,” Derek said, flicking a finger against Stiles’ nose before leaving to walk downstairs. He did his best to remember where the plates were as he waited for Stiles, whistling out a random tune.

Stiles went cross-eyed for a moment before raising his eyebrows. He quickly grabbed a T-shirt and some jeans as he followed him, putting the shirt on as he headed down the stairs. “Oh? Where are we going?”

“Supplies for your early present that I promised you,” Derek said vaguely, giving him a wink as he opened the cabinet that held the plates, snagging two and setting them side by side on the counter.

“What kind of supplies?” Stiles questioned curiously, stopping behind Derek so he could put his pants on. Once they were on, he put his hands in Derek’s back pockets and rested his chin on his shoulder.

Derek laughed, “If I told you that, it would ruin the surprise. Besides, you’ve had enough hints already.” He answered, opening the bag that held the styrofoam containers and opening them both.

“That’s not very nice.” Stiles groaned, taking his hands out of his pockets so he could put them in the front ones and keep his arms around him. “Maybe while we’re out, if we have the chance, we could get a leash for my collar.” He murmured, kissing Derek’s neck as he slowly grinned.

Derek leaned back against him a little and looked over his shoulder to raise an eyebrow at him. “Maybe, but uh... you’re not allowed to go in with me at the store.” he said with a smirk. “I don’t want you spying the supplies and figuring it out, though you really should have by now.”

“Wow, that is very rude.” Stiles groaned, dropping his head so he could bump his forehead against Derek’s back. “I’m pretty sure I know what’s going on, but I’m letting you be nice. Pretty sure I’m not allowed in the store anyways.”

“You’re not allowed in Wal-Mart?” Derek asked with a snort, chuckling. “I mean, if I’m getting a leash for you too, that’s where I’m going to go.”

“Oh, well. Yeah, Obviously I’m allowed in Wal-Mart.” Stiles said with a laugh. “Haven’t gotten kicked out of there yet.”

“That’s what I thought,” Derek said and wrapped his hands around Stiles’ wrists, pulling his hands out of his pockets so he could turn and face him. “Now, I’ve been smelling this food for a good twenty-five minutes and I was hoping maybe I could eat it soon, so... care to help with that?”

Stiles thought about it for a moment before he nodded. “Mmm, yeah, I’ll help you eat it. I woke up with this guy this morning and he fucked me so hard that I really worked up an appetite.” He winked at him, reaching over so he could grab a few strips of bacon before he pulled away from Derek and shoved them in his mouth.

Derek had been opening his mouth to retort when Stiles shoved the strips of bacon in. He narrowed his eyes at him, chewing the pieces up enough that he could talk before saying, “Not exactly what I meant, but I guess it works.” He said and turned enough to grab another piece, offering it out to Stiles’ mouth.

“Well, what did you mean then?” Stiles grinned up at him as he raised his eyebrows. He took the offering from Derek by slowly chewing it down and stopping at his boyfriend’s fingers. He poked his tongue out and ran it along his fingers before he took the digit in his mouth and sucked lightly. The teen slowly swirled his tongue round it and let out a light moan of content before pulling off of it with a light ‘pop’. He gave Derek’s knuckles a quickly kiss before moving around him so he could dish himself up a plate.

Derek’s eyes blinked rapidly for a second before he swallowed and cleared his throat. “I don’t know where things are in this kitchen, so I figured it would be easier for you to get the silverware than me searching for it.” He said, and sighed. “You’re a tease.”

Stiles laughed a little and looked back at him before he winked. “That’s what I’m here for, hot stuff. To make parts of your life hard, and parts of your body hard.” He snickered a little, shaking his head and getting some forks out of one of the drawers. “Anything else?”

“You’re evil, but no, we shouldn’t need anything else,” Derek said and snagged one of the forks from Stiles, grabbing the closer plate and starting to pile onto it what he wanted. “What movies did you pick out for tonight?” he asked.

“Uhmmmm.” Stiles shrugged as he set his plate at the table and went to pour himself some milk. “A shit ton of man on man videos. Kidding, things like Zombieland, just some fun movies.” He said softly before looking back at him. “Do you want a drink?”

“I got coffee,” Derek said and brought out his from behind the bag the food had been in. “There’s one for you too, I forgot to mention because of... well, you being the distraction you are.” he said with a smirk.

“You love it.” Stiles replied as he heard back to the table with his milk. He moved close to Derek, slowly grinning before he licked a light trail from the base of his neck and up to his jaw. “You also just love my oral fixation.”

Derek sighed, tilting his head back as Stiles licked him. “I do,” he murmured, tilting his head back down to look at Stiles. He lifted his free hand and brushed his thumb against Stiles’ cheek. “You make me forget all the shit that’s going on out there. It’s nice, being able to do that.”

“It’s my duty as your anchor and boyfriend to keep you happy and at peace, isn’t it?” Stiles smiled up at him before turning his head a little so he could kiss his thumb.

Derek laughed lightly, resting their foreheads together. “Yeah, it is.” he said quietly, “I’m just still trying to get used to all of this.”

Stiles smiled a bit wider and nodded as he stared up into his eyes. “I’m here with you every step.”

“I should hope so,” Derek replied, leaning forward to kiss him quickly. “Let’s um... let’s eat upstairs?” he asked, swallowing a little hard. He wanted to tell Stiles he loved him, it had seemed like a good moment, but he was still too scared - and he wanted it to be perfect, for when he did tell him. He wanted to do it right for the first time.

“Alright, sounds good.” Stiles said through a mouthful of food, he grinned at Derek, leaning forwards to bump their foreheads together before he got to his feet and picked his plate up. He grabbed his drink and led the way upstairs, humming to himself.

Derek gave Stiles a small smile, finishing getting food for himself before grabbing his coffee and carefully jogging to catch up to Stiles on the stairs before he matched his pace. When they got in, he took the computer chair to sit on, resting his ankle over his knee to balance his plate on before skewering a bit of egg, getting it thoroughly covered in pepper gravy, and eating it.

Stiles sat on his bed, slowly grinning as he watched Derek. He sat cross-legged so he could sit his plate on his legs. “My chair’s comfy, isn’t it?” He asked him softly, raising his eyebrows a little.

Derek shrugged. “It is. I can imagine how many times you’ve probably fallen asleep in this thing,” he said, gesturing with his fork at the chair before scooping some more food onto it.

“Good. I love that chair, and I dunno, I can sleep just about anywhere anyways. I can sleep on floors, halfway off of furniture, my body isn’t picky. My preferred method of sleeping though is either using my boyfriend as a bed or even a blanket, just so you know.” Stiles smiled wider at him.

Derek smirked, “You have a tendency to drool though, so that kind of makes me preferable to being a blanket.”

“I drool, talk in my sleep, sleepwalk, I am very adventurous in my imagination when I’m unconscious. I once had a sex dream involving you and woke up shirtless, in my kitchen, at three in the morning with a cucumber in my hands. Pretty sure I was blowing a cucumber that night.”

Derek nearly choked on his bite of food, covering his mouth as he coughed. “Please tell me your dad didn’t find you like that.”

Stiles cackled at Derek’s reaction, tilting his head back as he started to laugh harder. “Oh my God, I sure hope not, either he was sleeping, or he came downstairs and walked right the fuck back upstairs.” He snorted, poking at his food. “It was all soggy and covered in drool too and I just had drool dripping down my chin and chest. It was all wet and gross. I think my mind was pretending that you blew a massive load in my mouth or it was actual cucumber sperm. Who the fuck knows? All I know was that was an awesome dream and officially the messiest blowjob I’ve ever given.”

Derek snorted, “That would have been a sight to see, I’m sure.” he said, shaking his head. He picked his coffee up from the desk and took a drink before setting it back. “Do you sleepwalk often?” he asked, quirking an eyebrow up.

“Uh, I used to a lot when I was a kid. Now it’s just a very rare occurrence. Maybe once every few months, probably.” He said with a shrug. “I didn’t mention it because it’s super rare. I don’t think you’ll really ever see it.”

Derek nodded slowly. “Hopefully not. I wouldn’t know what to do. Never dealt with that sort of thing.”

“Well, most of the time, you could probably just find out where I am by scent. If you really wanna make sure that I’m okay. I always find my way back home and I mean, I haven’t gotten hit by a car yet so I’m assuming I stay safe.”

“I’m not saying I wouldn’t be able to find you,” Derek said. “I’m saying that once I did... I don’t know what I should do. Do I try waking you up, or...?”

Stiles thought about it for a moment before shaking his head. “Unless something really bad is going on, I don’t think you should wake me up.”

Derek nodded. “See? Now I know what to do.” He said and went back to his meal. “Fortunately I think the only thing you’d have to deal with, with me, is snoring.”

“Carry me home and we’ll be fine. And I think since you put up with all of my drooling, I can handle a little snoring.” Stiles winked at him before he went back to eating so he could finish his plate.

“I can do that,” Derek said with a laugh. They finished their meal in mostly silence, Derek sat his plate next to his coffee when he was done, wiping his mouth with his hands. “So, what’s our plan with getting the movie stuff to my car?”

“I’ll help you carry the TV and I’ll just put my backpack on so we can just go.” Stiles replied, setting his plate aside before heading over to the chair so he could climb onto Derek’s lap and moved his arms around his shoulders. “It should only take one trip.”

“You do realize that I’m entirely capable of carrynig the TV by myself, right?” Derek asked with a smirk, resting his hands on Stiles’ thighs.

“Oh my god, you can carry the TV then, He-Man.” Stiles stated with a roll of his eyes.

“I don’t know, if I’m a comic book character I think Wolverine fits better,” Derek said, grinning at him.

“Oh my fucking God, if you are not Wolverine for Halloween I am going to be so fucking disappointed. I am just thinking about it now and I just...” Stiles rambled for a moment, soon just getting to the point where he was letting out a jumble of nonsensical half-words before he cupped Derek’s face in his hands and kissed him deeply.

Derek laughed into the kiss, pressing into it as he nipped at Stiles’ lip. “I don’t know, kind of old for Halloween aren’t I?” he asked.

“You’re never too old for Halloween, Dork.” Stiles murmured against his mouth, nipping back at him. “That’s why there are adult Halloween parties and stuff.” He pulled away so he could nip lightly at his neck before he sat back. “Or we can spend Halloween together by watching scary movies, getting drunk off of Halloween drinks, and then eating candy off of each other and fucking all night. Sounds like a pretty solid Halloween plan to me.”

Derek hummed, shrugging. “Might want to wait until it’s a bit closer to October. I mean, it’s not even April.”

“Dude, we live in Beacon Hills. There are werewolves and creatures running around. Every day is Halloween.”

“Well, when you put it that way,” Derek said, rolling his eyes before looking up at Stiles.

Stiles slowly grinned as he bumped their noses together. “Exactly. One of these days I’m gonna show up at your place in a costume. Just to see what you’d do.” He said softly before getting an idea in mind. He stared off into space for a moment before he slowly grinned. “Since I can’t go into Wal-Mart with you, I’m gonna run into one of the stores next to it.”

“All right,” Derek said, shrugging. “Am I allowed to know which one or is that cheeky grin something I should worry about?”

“The cheeky grin is totally something you should worry about.” Stiles nodded in agreement, kissing him quickly before climbing off of his lap. “Alright, Wolf Breath, let’s get going. The day is still young!”

Derek sighed, closing his eyes for a moment and shook his head, getting to his feet. “Let me get my stuff,” Derek said, stepping around him so he could get to his shoes. He then slipped on his jacket, tucking his keys into his coat pocket before picking up his coffee. “Okay, if you can get this and yours downstairs. I can get the TV.” Derek said.

“Alright, sounds good.” Stiles nodded, picking up his spare backpack before slinging it over his shoulders. He took Derek’s coffee and kissed his cheek before heading downstairs so he could put the leftovers in the fridge and throw the trash away while Derek did that.

Derek nodded and watched Stiles leave before tilting his head at the TV box. After a bit of maneuvering he figured out it was easiest to carry it with a hand on either side. Carrying it that way it took him a minute to get downstairs, but other than that he had no issues. “We good?” he asked when he got to the kitchen, looking in through the archway at Stiles.

“Yeah, we’re good.” Stiles replied, heading out of the kitchen. “You sure you wanna carry that all the way to the park?”

Derek glanced down at the TV. “I could probably give carry you too, but that would just be impractical.”

“You could run to your car and swing back around if you want? You’re pretty speedy on your feet.”

“I could, but I’d rather not break the TV,” Derek said with a laugh. “Come on, it’s not that far.” Derek said, nodding his head towards the door.

“No, I mean, leave the TV here and drive back.” Stiles replied as he followed him. “But we can walk too. It’s all up to you.”

Derek paused near the door and bit at his lip, thinking. “It’ll probably be faster if I do it that way,” he said and adjusted his grip on the TV box before he sat it down. “I’ll be back in like five minutes, tops.” Derek said, giving Stiles a quick kiss on the cheek before heading out the door.

Stiles laughed a little at that and shook his head as he watched his boyfriend go. “What a cutie.” He snickered a little before heading to the kitchen so he could get some of his secret candy stash into his backpack for their movie night.

Derek made it back in the time he said he would, parking on the side of the road ride outside the house and leaving his car running as he headed back to the house. “Okay, let’s get going. Daylight’s burning,” he called into the house as he walked inside.

Stiles snorted at that and headed over to him. “Hey, out of all the things we’ve done, it’s still only eight in the morning.” He said with a laugh, gently bumping his hip to Derek’s as he got his keys out so he could lock the door after them.

“Yeah, and we have a lot of stuff to do still,” Derek said, sliding the TV closer to him before picking it up and stepping back outside. He sat it by the trunk before walking around to pop it open, having to fold the back seats forward so it would even fit.

Stiles locked the door and followed after Derek, pocketing his keys again. “Well, that is semi-true.” He snickered as he leaned against the car. “Will it fit alright?” He asked curiously.

“Yeah, just had to fold the backseats forward. It shouldn’t move around too much if I drive normally, and maybe you put your backpack against it.” He said, sliding the box against the right side.

Stiles nodded at that and moved around the car so he could put his backpack between the seat and the TV box. “Sounds like a plan, Champ. Alright, are we all ready now?”

“Yup,” Derek said, shutting the trunk once Stiles hands were clear. He got into the driver’s seat and turning down the stereo. “Should we drop by the school? Get your school work and stuff?” He asked, resting his hand on the gearshift.

“Nah, I’ll do that tomorrow. Or Scott’ll probably do it since we have just about every class together.” Stiles replied as he got in the car and leaned back against his seat.

Derek nodded, shifting his car out of park and pulling away from the sidewalk. He angled his car towards mid-town where the Wal-Mart was, “Keep forgetting you’re still in High School sometimes.” He said, sighing a little.

Stiles wiggled his eyebrows a little at him. “Two more years after June.” He laughed a little.

Derek shook his head, laughing lightly out his nose as he kept his eyes on the road. “Seems like a long time,” Derek said quietly. “Won’t be, once we reach that day.”

“You have to admit though, I’m pretty awesome for a sixteen year old.” Stiles grinned at him as he took his hand and interlocked their fingers.

Derek smirked, “I’m just still thinking about that birthday dinner... I feel like your dad’s just going to interrogate me the whole time.” He said, wiggling his fingers against Stiles’ hand.

“I feel like he will too. I’m pretty sure that as long as you’re honest about almost everything, aside from the fact that you like tying me up and collaring me, you’ll do great. And again, I’m with you every step of the way. I think he’ll like you.”

“And that I’m a werewolf,” Derek said with a sigh, glancing over at Stiles. “But I guess that’s kind of a given.”

“Pretty sure if you told him that you’re a werewolf, he’d forbid me from seeing you because he’d think you’re nuts. Or on drugs.”

“Yeah, definitely not going to mention the werewolf-ism,” Derek said and ran the fingers of his left hand across his forehead. “I just feel like it’s going to end bad.”

“Don’t worry, if it starts going bad, I have a plan.” Stiles smiled up at him, gently squeezing his hand. “I’ll flip over a table and we can escape in the chaos.”

Derek laughed, “You’re just determined to have your dad threaten me if I keep seeing you aren’t you?” he asked, glancing over at him from the road.

Stiles laughed a little and shrugged his shoulders. “I think it’s hilarious really. But no, just be polite and respectful and you’ll do fine. You’re basically having dinner with the whole family, no pressure.”

“No pressure, yeah, okay,” Derek said with a snort. “Maybe for you. This is basically a test for me.”

“It’s entirely a test for you. But y’know, if you get really nervous, I’ll be there to help you out and anchor you.”

“I’m going to die of embarrassment,” Derek muttered, sinking in his seat a little, tapping his thumb agaisnt the steering wheel.

“No you won’t. I promise I’ll actually try to make thing easier. If anything, I’ll probably be wanting to crawl under a rock and die because if they like you, the embarrassing childhood stories come out.”

Derek grinned at that, “That would be preferable to any other resulting scenario I’m coming up with in my head.”

“I can promise you that it probably won’t be as bad as you think it’ll be. You’ll see.”

“Going to have to,” Derek said and tapped his thumb a few more times on his steering wheel before he turned down the main road, the giant blue sign for Wal-Mart not far ahead. “So, no hints at all as to what you’re going to be doing while I’m in there?” he asked, raising his eyebrows.

“No way. Not even a little hint. Basically you’ll see it when we get to your place.” Stiles replied, raising his own eyebrows. “While you’re messing around with your surprise, I’ll set it up.”

“You realize I hate surprises, right?” Derek asked, shaking his head as he pulled into the turning lane for the store, stuck behind a mini van with one of those stick figure families that lined the entire back glass of the vehicle.

“It’ll be a good surprise.” Stiles replied, kissing his knuckles once he stopped the car. “Also, I need to run in Wal-Mart with you to get something, so you go do your thing. I’ll only be in there for a minute, so I won’t ruin the surprise you have for me.”

“That’s fine,” Derek said and took the chance to look over at Stiles. “We just want to meet at the car when we’re done, or should I text you?” he asked.

“Just meet me back in the car. Also, get whatever snacks you want for when we watch movies and play video games.” Stiles slowly remembered something and slowly grinned as a little light bulb idea went off in his head. “Okay, basically avoid the toy section and art supply section when you first go in.”

“Those are on the opposite side of the store I’m needing, so that shouldn’t be a problem,” Derek said and focused his eyes back on the road when the van in front of him started pulling forward. It took them another four minutes of slow driving to actually find a parking space, and Derek triple checked that his doors were locked when they got out because of the expensive electronics they were leaving in it.

“Should I get something special to drink for you tonight? Energy drinks, beer, anything?” Derek asked, pocketing his keys as he waited by the trunk of his car for Stiles.

At the mention of an energy drink, Stiles tilted his head back and let out a groan. “Fuck. I knew I was forgetting something. I didn’t take my medication this morning. So uh, yeah. A blue Amp energy drink would be nice, it has special stuff in it meant for focusing.” He replied as he bounced a little on his feet. “Beer would be nice. Or maybe vodka. That way we could do shots, if we feel like it. Just whatever you want should be fine.” He was bouncing a little on his feet as he spoke, needing to keep some form of movement once he had stopped beside Derek.

“We can drive back and get it,” Derek offered, scratching at the back of his neck. “Damn it, I was supposed to remember that too.” he said and sighed. “I’ll get you an Amp though, if you want we can do that first thing and you can drink it while you’re off shopping for... whatever it is that you’re going to be shopping for.”

Stiles shook his head at that. “Don’t worry about it, the energy drink will calm me down. Uh, just bring it out when you’re done shopping and I’ll drink it then.” Stiles remembered some of the stuff he had talked about with his dad and took Derek’s hand before leaning against him for a moment. “Hey, thank you.” He said softly, looking up at him.

“For putting up with me and being so patient with me. It means a lot to me that you actually try to understand the way my mind works and that you just keep working through it with me.” He smiled a little as they headed towards the massive store. “Most people just think I’m this stupid defiant kid whose only talent is being disruptive.”

“I may find it annoying sometimes, but you’re really awesome to be around. So...” Derek said, and slowed their walking enough that he could lean over and kiss Stiles. “You’re welcome.” he said and gave Stiles’ hand a squeeze as he started to walk how they had been before, keeping an eye out for what store Stiles could possibly be heading to. There were a few clothing stores, restaurants, a Payless and other stores that he knew of. None of them made sense though, unless Stiles was planning on buying a more form-fitting shirt and Derek should _really_ kill that train of thought before it derails.

“Yeah, but you don’t really get bugged with me. You just keep trying to be patient.” Stiles grinned at him, bumping his hip to Derek’s. “It could be because you’re older and so full of wisdom. Then again, older doesn’t always mean better. Like Harris. Ugh, I wish someone would just beat him up. Then again, what would the world be if we didn’t have a teacher that didn’t demean their students in front of an entire class and then torture a student after school?” He asked sarcastically before snorting. “I mean really. Because my dad interrogated him, he’s punishing me for it. The dude even said so himself. He has _got_ to have a dick the size of a Tic Tac to make up for the fact that he’s just a giant walking phallus.” He had to stop his rant before it got even longer, sighing in frustration before he looked up at Derek. “Sometimes I kind of wish you were a teacher. But then our situation would become very, very illegal because I would seduce the ever loving fuck out of you. But hey, I guess that’s what bedroom roleplay is for, right?”

Derek snorted, “I could _persuade_ him to be nicer.” Derek said, raising his eyebrows at Stiles with a mischievous grin on his lips. “And I’m not wearing a teacher’s outfit.” he added, waiting at the crosswalk until the car that had pulled up to the stop sign had actually stopped before continuing ahead to the sliding mechanical doors to the store.

“You could be a hip teacher.” Stiles snorted as he squeezed his hand. “Oh God, do not tempt me. I would pay good money for that, but I don’t want to risk you getting in trouble. He’s not worth it. Ugh, fuck, now I’m thinking about you as a teacher in different scenarios and it is so hot.”

Derek laughed, “Why do I have a feeling you’re just imagining me in a suit?” he asked, bumping their shoulders together.

“I am. I’m also imagining taking you out of the suit and you tying my hands with your tie.” He said honestly, letting go of his hand once they were inside. “Alright, I’ll see in you like what, fifteen to twenty minutes?”

“Yeah,” Derek said and reached out and brushed his fingers against Stiles’ neck. “Call me if you need to.” he said and grabbed a basket before he started to wander his way back through the aisles, hands tucked into his pockets.

“Alright, sounds good. Same for you.” Stiles called after him. He watched him for a moment before heading to the toy section, specifically the board game aisle so that he could grab Twister. Once he had the game in hand, he headed to the arts and crafts so he could grab little bottles of paints since those were the only other things he needed from here. Afterwards, he went up front and paid for everything at the self-checkout, getting one last little surprise for Derek once that was done.

After he was finished in Wal-Mart, he headed out to the front of the store so that he could go into another one a few doors down. Since he was a man on a mission, he went straight for everything he needed, getting all of his supplies for Derek’s other surprise before he headed back to the car. He realized then that Derek had locked the doors and groaned a little to himself as he leaned against the car and waited for him.

Derek didn’t have much trouble finding what he was looking for in the store as far as preparations for the party. Chips, soda, alcohol for himself and Stiles and the others, but it was the pet aisle that was giving him the most trouble. Their selection of leashes and collars was stupidly extensive, one boasting that it could take the weight of a Great Dane, the other only the weight of a Chihuahua. Derek smirked at that one, remembering Stiles calling him that.

He put a chain one in his basket and after spending about ten minutes behind a lady who had about thirty coupons she decided to mention _after_ the cashier had rang up all the items, he finally walked outside. When he joined up with Stiles he dug around the bags and brought out the requested for blue Amp. “Enjoy,” he said after he’d handed it over and located his keys to open the trunk.

Stiles made sure that Derek couldn’t see the contents of one of his bags, grinning as he took the Amp and quickly kissed him. “Thanks, Der.” He told him, holding the can in the arm he let his bags hang on before he grabbed Derek’s ass with his free hand. “So I figured, if you want, we can play Messy Twister later. It’d be an adventure.” He snickered, putting his Wal-Mart bag in the trunk.

“Maybe, if your surprise for me isn’t anything I’ll regret,” Derek said with a chuckle, tucking his bags and the 30 case of beer in carefully with what was already occupying the back half of his car. “Did you get everything already?” He asked, making sure Stiles was clear of the trunk before closing it.

“Yeah, I’m all done shopping.” He replied, setting the other bag near the passenger door for a moment so he could pull a tiny paper envelope out of his pocket. “This is technically for you.” He grinned at him, opening it and taking Derek’s hand before dumping the contents onto it. A small black circle shaped pendant dropped from the envelope, a customized dog tag. Engraved on the middle of it was a single word. ‘Derek’s’. “It’s for my collar. I mean, it’s probably really stupid, but I thought you’d like it.”

Derek grinned at it, turning it over a few times in his hand. He cupped Stiles’ face in his hands and kissed him. “It’s perfect,” he said and brushed their noses together. “It’ll match well with the collar, and the leash I just bought you.” he said, grinning a little wider.

Stiles laughed a little against his mouth and nodded. “Yeah, that sounds awesome.” He said softly, nuzzling against him.

“You ready to go?” he asked a little breathily, the urge to take Stiles in his arms and press him against something getting a little too strong for the middle of a parking lot.

“Yeah, I’m ready if you are.” Stiles snorted at the way Derek sounded. He raised his eyebrows a little and grinned before kissing his cheek. “You’re cute.” He told him as he pulled away and headed to the passenger’s door.

Derek stood there for a moment, leaning his head back and taking a breath before getting into the car. “I’m not cute,” he said as he started his car. “Half-hard and a little agitated that we’re in a parking lot, yes. Cute... no.” He said and after making sure that there was no one walking or driving in his way, he backed out and started towards the exit.

“Do you want to pull over behind somewhere so I can dirty talk you and give you another blow job?” Stiles asked curiously as he put his bag behind Derek’s seat.

Derek glances over at him. “Not exactly what I’m wanting to do to take care of it. I’ll be fine,” he said and reached across the car to take Stiles’ hand. “I can wait.”

Stiles laughed a little and nodded as he took his hand again. “Fair enough. We have the entire day anyways to do whatever we want.”

“I’m partially regretting having you stay with me, just mainly because I feel like I’m not going to get anything done. Even with having time.”

“We get things done, just not always the right things.” He said with a laugh.

Derek laughs with him. “I should probably consider that a problem, but... Yeah, I can’t really see a downside.”

“I like to consider myself the greatest distraction and I’m starting to think that you do too.” Stiles grinned at him.

Derek brought Stiles hand to his lips and kissed his knuckles. “I’d confirm your thoughts, but I think that would just make you more cocky and I can’t have that.” he said, letting the fact that he was being sarcastic drip into his tone of voice as he finished his sentence.

“Mmm, definitely.” Stiles murmured, moving to rest his head on Derek’s shoulder. “I’m already feeling one of my heads start to fill up with hot air...Oh wait, no that’s not hot air.”

Derek snorted, “Oh my _God_ , Stiles shut up.” He said, though he was laughing the entire time.

Stiles started to laugh along with him, burying his face in his jacket. “You walked right into that one, for sure.”

“Yeah,” he said, biting at his lip as he shook his head. He laughed harder for a second, as he thought of something. “I guess I should have seen that... _coming._ ” He said before he dissolved into more laughter.

Stiles burst out laughing at that, squeezing Derek’s hand as he started to snort. “Fuck, man! That one totally blew up in my face, didn’t it?” He asked, sitting up so he could wink at him. “Hopefully it’s not the only thing blowing up in my face.”

Derek laughed, shaking his head. “Something will definitely be up when we get back to the warehouse,” Derek said, a vague promise.

“I’m pretty sure many things will be up when we get back to the warehouse.”

Derek grinned, “Point taken.” he said and gave Stiles’s hand a squeeze. “Really though, I’m glad you agreed to stay with me. I... I don’t like staying there all day by myself.”

Stiles smiled and squeezed his hand back. “Mmm, no problem, Der. I’m fine with keeping you company. You’re very pleasant to be around. And I’m not just saying that because we have awesome sex.”

“I know, but it’s partially the awesome sex.” Derek said, looking over at him briefly, the grin still plastered across his face.

“It’s at least halfway for the awesome sex.” Stiles nodded, grinning back at him. “Like seventy five percent. Maybe eighty.” He teased.

“I don’t know if I should be offended or flattered,” Derek said with a snort.

“You have a life changing penis.” Stiles replied simply.

Derek snorted again, shaking his head. “I’m not even going to respond to that.” He said, shaking his head.

“Good.” Stiles slowly grinned at that. “I’m pretty sure werewolf semen has magical qualities about it.” Derek responded by raising his eyebrows up and glancing over at Stiles. “You know, I’m pretty sure I can have an entire conversation with your eyebrows.”

Derek rolled his eyes. “Are they really that expressive?” he asked.

“They are very expressive. I don’t even think you realize it.”

“Never really paid attention.” he admitted, and glanced in his rear view as he quirked an eyebrow and then the other. “I don’t see it.”

“Of course you don’t see it, you dork. You talk a lot with your eyebrows. Also I don’t know if I’ve ever said this but you have the cutest teeth.”

“You’ve said they look like rabbit teeth,” Derek pointed out, smirking.

“They do though. They’re cute little bunny teeth and sometimes I just keep staring at them. They have mind control powers, really.”

“I think you’re still just stunned by the fact that I’m capable of smiling,” Derek said, shifting his shoulder under the weight of Stiles’ head resting against it.

“The first time I saw you smile, I thought I was hallucinating a little. But now I can make you smile whenever I feel like it.”

“That’s what happens when you care about someone,” Derek said, resting his cheek for a moment against Stiles’ head. They were close to the warehouse at the point, and he kept his eyes focused on the road. “So, when do I get to know what this surprise is?” he asked.

“When Hell freezes over and the great wolf devours Odin.” Stiles stated. “And not a moment sooner if you keep asking.” He joked as he gently elbowed him. “Y’know, thinking about how you said you could be Wolverine earlier, I’m totally probably abandoning you for a weekend so I can go to Comic Con.”

“And why couldn’t I just go with you?” Derek asked, frowning a little.

“Awww, you wanna go to Comic Con with me? I didn’t think you were into that whole thing. I mean, obviously you know your comic book characters, but I didn’t think you’re into the convention scene. Especially not one that big. Okay, now I’m gonna start getting to know you better. Have you seen Star Wars?”

“All of them, once or twice. Don’t quiz me because I seriously am not claiming any knowledge of the films.” Derek said with a chuckle. “My knowledge of superheroes is limited mostly to Marvel though. I was never big on DC, which is why every time I see you wear Batman stuff I kind of want to rip it off of you.”

“At least you’ve seen Star Wars. I’ve been trying to make Scott watch them for years.” He replied before laughing. “You’re just jealous of my Batman skills. But, Mr. Smart Ass, have you seen any Star Trek and who is your favorite superhero anyways?”

“I’ve seen all of Star Trek: TNG.” He said, abbreviating ‘The Next Generation.’ “Shatner was never my favorite actor, though I would watch it for George Takei and Leonard Nimoy.” He said and frowned a little as he thought about Stiles’ last question. “I think I’m going to have to go with Spiderman at this instance. You act a lot like him.”

“Shatner is a classic. What would the world be if we didn’t have his overacting? I love it. I’ve seen all of The Next Generation too.” Stiles replied before Derek’s next answer caught him off guard. “Really?” He asked, slowly grinning up at him. “He’s my one of my top favorites. But uh, that’s really kick ass that he is currently your favorite because of me. Do you want to know who my favorite superhero is?” He asked softly as he put his head back on his shoulder. “You.”

Derek snorted, “I’m not a superhero, Stiles.” He said and shook his head. “But yeah, I like Spiderman. He was the first comic book hero I was introduced to. Then it was Wolverine, then I kind of had a thing for Iron Man. Deadpool’s pretty awesome too, but I don’t honestly know much about him other than his name is Wade.”

“Deadpool, Spider-Man, and Batman are my top favorites, in no order. Pretty sure I’m a mix of Deadpool and Spider-Man. And I’m considering you a superhero, so just accept it.” Stiles replied, grinning to himself.

“ _If_ I’m a superhero, I’m like... fuck, I don’t even know. Like Wolverine before his X-Men days, I guess.” Derek said, smacking his hand against his turn signal a few feet before slowing down and turning onto the gravel of the warehouse lot.

“Mmmm....Can I call your dick the Wolverine or would that be in bad taste?” He asked, raising his eyebrows a little.

Derek narrowed his eyes over at Stiles as he parked. “I preferred it when you thought about calling it Mjolnir.” he retorted. “I mean, it fits. Only the worthy can weild it and you’re most definitely worthy.”

Stiles choked on his breathing for a moment before he started to laugh. “Oh my fucking God!”

Derek grinned, turning off the Camaro and pocketing the keys. “You opened the floodgates to my vast knowledge of sexual puns and innuendos. There’s no stopping it now, you should consider yourself warned.”

“Oh God, what have I unleashed?” Stiles snickered as he shook his head. “For fuck sake, that’s amazing. But really, it’s hard to say Mjolnir when said dick is in your mouth.”

“You could take after Kat Dennings.” Derek said with a shrug after he opened his car door. “Pretty sure Mew-mew would be easy enough to say in that circumstance.” he added, getting up from his seat after he pressed the button under the dash to pop the trunk.

“Oh my God, you are unbelievable.” Stiles cackled, raising his eyebrows. “I’m already going to start calling your wolf form ‘Moon Moon’ so I’m not sure you want me to call your dick Mew-Mew. Too close. Also Mew-Mew doesn’t have as nice of a ring to it when you’re choking on it.”

“Moon Moon?” Derek asked, quirking up an eyebrow and waiting for an explanation as he walked around to open the trunk, starting to grab the bags from their shopping trip.

“You don’t even want to try and question why.” Stiles snorted as he grabbed his bag and Derek’s sunglasses. “Hey, Wolf Breath, give me your jacket.” He piped up as he grabbed his backpack. “Please.”

“Trying to get our party supplies upstairs, you can wait a minute.” Derek said and walked around to the driver’s side again with his hands both full with bags and shut the door with his foot before he headed for the stairs.

“I actually can’t wait a minute. I am very allergic to having to wait any amount of time. My body will go into shock.” Stiles replied as he followed him.

“That’s so terrible, do you think being fucked against a wall would help cure that or is that just my residual feelings from earlier creeping back?” He asked, glancing over his shoulder at Stiles. 

Stiles’ jaw dropped at Derek’s words, feeling arousal already twist in his abdomen. “Uh, yeah, that would totally cure it, no questions asked.”

Derek sat the bags in his left hand down so he could open the door and picked them back up again immediately after before setting all of the bags on the floor by Stiles’ drums. He took off his jacket, offering it out to Stiles.

“I’m going to go get the TV and maybe the beer if I can figure out a way to carry them both.” He said after Stiles had taken it, heading quickly back down the stairs to his car.

“Uh, carry in the TV and I’ll get the beer for you.” He offered as he followed after him, pulling on the jacket.

Derek shrugged, not arguing with the offer and after they’d gotten the last of what they needed to bring in out of the trunk he shut it before picking the TV back up. He carried it carefully up the stairs, having to take them one at a time and walk side-ways up them. He leaned it against the wall by the drums once they were back inside and he gestured at the beer. “If you can get that in the fridge, I need to take care of something. Then we can get to what I’m really wanting to do which is most definitely nothing to do with party preparations.”

“Sounds good. I’ll go do that and my other thing while you do whatever it is that you have to do.” Stiles said with a laugh, picking up one of his bags before he headed off with the case of beer.

He put the beer away carefully, fitting the box in the best way he could before he went upstairs and locked himself in Derek’s bathroom.

Derek carefully rifled through the bags of supplies, not even bothering to hid the bottle of Crown Royal Maple once he’d found it. He glanced up at the door to the bathroom as he heard the lock click, shrugging and shaking his head as he maneuvered his way back to where the wolfsbane plant was flowering and budding and in desperate need of water. He knelt next to it and watered it until the soil refused to drink anymore and the excess ran out the holes he’d placed in the bottom of the plastic barrel.

Once that was done, and he’d placed a safe amount of flowers into the bottle of pancake smelling whiskey, he got to his feet again. He turned the bottle repeatedly in his hands as he walked back, focusing his hearing on Stiles in the bathroom, trying to get a hint of what he hell he was doing in there.

Stiles soon finished up what he was doing, making sure that he looked completely perfect. Since he had talked about surprising Derek by randomly dressing up, he figured the best way he could catch him off guard was to actually dress up as Derek, just to spite him.

He had purchased several sets of custom fangs that fit over each tooth he put one on, and a few other things. He even had borrowed one of Derek’s Henley shirts and penciled his eyebrows with an eyeliner pencil to look more like Derek’s. He called that dedication.

Once he deemed himself perfect, he put on Derek’s sunglasses, adjusted his coat and headed back downstairs. “So, are you all done with party prep?”

Derek, while waiting for Stiles and giving up attempting to figure out what he was doing by sound alone, had been going through the other party supplies he’d bought and he _actually_ dropped the bag of chips he’d been debating on saving for himself or not when he saw what Stiles looked like now. Derek opened his mouth to say something, but all that came out was a choked, “Uh...” before he closed his mouth and quirked an eyebrow up. “I - I don’t... wow.”

Stiles mirrored the way that Derek raised his eyebrow, putting his hands in his pockets. “You don’t?” He asked curiously, grinning and showing off his fangs as he stepped closer to him. He moved an arm around Derek’s waist to pull him close and pulled his sunglasses down a little to show off his bright red contacts. “Finish that thought, Der.” He looked Derek up and down for a moment before slowly grinning again. “I look hot, don’t I?”

“You look...” Derek started, his voice trailing again. Since he was completely incapable of forming any kind of coherent sentence, apparently, he settled for letting a low growl settle in his chest as he possessively put his hands on Stiles’ waist and pulled him against him. “Damn it, Stiles.” he grumbled out, reaching his hands up to card over Stiles’ buzzed head. “This is... I really don’t know what to say. I’m trying, but I got nothing.”

“Is that a good thing or a bad thing? Because honestly I’m starting to get a little self conscious.” Stiles murmured as he moved his arms around his neck. “I’m the alpha now.” He said softly, imitating Derek’s voice.

Derek snorted, resting his forehead against Stiles’. “I don’t say things like that.” he said defensively, peeking up at Stiles.

“You’ve said it in front of me like twice.” Stiles pointed out. “Once when you killed Peter, once at the police station when you stopped Isaac from trying to kill me. You totally say things like that.”

“I didn’t actually say anything when I killed my uncle, thank you,” Derek said. “And if you drop the ‘now’ bit, then yeah - I said that at the stations when I saved you.” Derek said and sighed a little, brushing his hand down Stiles’ face to pull down his lip and look at the fake fangs. “Why do you want to look like me?” he asked softly, letting his hand rest on Stiles’ chest.

“All that talk of superheroes.” Stiles said softly, gently bumping their noses together. “I know you don’t see it, but you’re really kind of a superhero. You’ve saved my life multiple times and you’ve even given three outcast teenagers a shot at becoming something they’re proud of. I think Erica likes herself for the first time in probably forever, and she feels great about herself now. Isaac doesn’t have to be afraid anymore and he feels like he belongs. He’s happy now. And Boyd got a chance to fit in and belong with people.” He said softly, brushing their lips together. “You’ve given them everything they could ask for, and more. You’re giving me more than I could ever ask for, every day that I’m with you. You might see yourself as failing and wishing that there was more that you could do, but the fact that you don’t give up says a lot about you. You don’t have fancy gadgets like Batman, or spidey senses, or superpowers aside from a little thing called Lycanthropy, but you’re still a superhero to me.”

Derek just nodded, wrapping his arms around Stiles’ waist and pulling him close for a tight hug. “Thank you.” he whispers, burying his face in the space between Stiles’ neck and his own jacket. He eases his grip after a few moments pulling back enough to gently press their lips together. It’s not exactly the mind-blowing wall sex he’d had in mind, but it feels right after what Stiles had just said about him.

Stiles kissed him back, running his fingers gently through Derek’s hair to help him feel just a little but better. “You’re welcome.” He smiled a little as he ran the back of his fingers over Derek’s jaw.

“Come on, I want to show you something,” Derek said, the idea formulating in his head and he took Stiles’ hand from his jaw and started leading him upstairs to the bedroom before Stiles could protest or ask what it was. When they got upstairs he went to the back of the room behind a dresser that Erica had salvaged from the training area and opened up a large trunk with a triskele on it. It had previously held the full moon restrains, but he’d since filled it with things that he had brought of Laura’s - things he’d thought she’d want to have when he planned to meet her in Beacon Hills, before he found out she was dead.

He sorted through the unorganized mess before he found what he was looking for, a large photo album that had yet another triskele cut into the faded and worn leather of the cover. He swallowed a little hard as he stood back up and shoved it out towards Stiles. “Felt like you might want to look at it.” he said in explanation.

Stiles followed Derek, taking his jacket off and setting it on the table since it was starting to get warm. He gently squeezed his hand, wondering what he was wanting to show him. He tried to guess the surprise, but when he saw the album, he slowly grinned and nodded as he gently kissed his cheek. “Of course I want to look at it with you. I wanna see how cute of a kid you were.” He was really excited that Derek wanted to show him something like this, so happy that Derek was really letting him into his world.

“I honestly haven’t looked at this since before the fire.” Derek said and scratched at the back of his neck and gestured for him to sit down with him on the edge of Erica’s bed. His still smelled like blood, dried blood, so clearly none of the others had been nice enough to clean it and he didn’t want to bother with it right at the moment. He looked back at the album, ghosting his fingers along the side of the cover. He opened it carefully and was startled by an image of his parents when they were much younger, before they’d even had Laura, on their wedding day.

“Laura rearranged the photos,” he mumbled.

Stiles sat down with Derek and curled up against him so that he could get a better look at everything. When he saw the couple in the picture, he slowly smiled as he rested his head on his shoulder. “Is this your mom and your dad?” He asked softly, seeing the resemblance in both of them. “You definitely look like you’re related to them.”

“Yeah,” he said and cleared his throat. “Talia and Dante.” He added, eyes focused on his mother. So looked so much like he remembered, but so much younger too - she looked his age. He didn’t know what else to say so he turned the page. More wedding photos, the only family he recognized from the photos was his parents and his Uncle. There were a few other people he recognized too, other pack leaders whom he hadn’t seen in years. Most of the pictures were dark with age and it was hard to make out the faces farther back.

Eventually he got to more pictures that Stiles had been asking for. First of Laura’s first days in the hospital after her birth, then his, then Cora’s, and lastly his younger brother Brandon. He named them all as he slowly flipped through, lingering on the ones of himself as he knew that’s what Stiles wanted to see. There were a lot of family photos where he knew his dad had to be the one behind the camera in most of them as he wasn’t hardly ever in the frame.

Then it became pictures of just him and his siblings - around the ages they were when their dad passed. Stiles looked at all of the pictures, slowly grinning as he listened to Derek tell him about his family. He nodded every now and again, having to stop Derek when he showed him what he looked like as a baby. “Oh my god, Der. You were actually a really cute baby. I was expecting this angry little furry thing.” He joked lightly as he admired the pictures.

Then there were a few blank pages and Derek thought it was done, but he saw more shapes of photos further back and when he looked he snorted out his surprise. Laura had taken pictures of them together in New York, he could tell in most of them they had both been drinking - or at least him - because he didn’t remember her taking these, let alone when they had been or why he was smiling in _all of them_.

 

Stiles felt his heart pound a little faster as he noted just how happy Derek was in all of the pictures, especially in the pictures he had taken with Laura. A lump quickly formed in his throat and he tried to swallow it down as he took Derek’s hand and slowly squeezed it. He tried to take slow breaths to calm himself down and buried his face in Derek’s shoulder as he closed his eyes for a few moments. He soon opened an eye and looked back down at the pictures of Derek in New York with his sister and had to close them again.

Derek had gone through so much pain in his life, more than anyone could ever imagine. He hated that he went through all of this torture because of what he was, when he did nothing to deserve any of it. He loved Derek so much and it really hurt him when he thought about just how much Derek was still hurting deep down. He wanted to be the one to mend all of Derek’s wounds and take all of his pain so he wouldn’t ever have to feel hopeless ever again. He slowly took the photo album from Derek with shaking hands and closed it gently so he could set it aside and climb onto Derek’s lap before moving his arms around his neck. He buried his face in his neck, trying to keep his breathing calmed down through his nose.

Derek only knew that Stiles was upset, not really understanding why at the moment. He let Stiles do what he needed and when he sat down on his lap and hugged him, he hugged him back and rubbed his hand against Stiles’ back in small circles. “It’s okay,” he murmured. They’d been looking at pictures of his family and then Stiles started crying - he didn’t understand _why_. “It’s okay, I’m right here, just breathe with me.” he said, purposely keeping his breathing slow and taking short pauses of not breathing in between each long inhale and exhale.

Stiles shook his head a little, gripping Derek’s shirt as he tried to calm himself down. “No, Derek. It’s not okay.” He whispered before biting his lip. “So much has happened to you and you have deserved literally none of it. It’s fucking bullshit. You’re fucking incredible and you’re still incredible after all of this fucking...shit that has happened to you throughout your life because you aren’t human. You were so happy and the world just keeps fucking you over. It makes me so angry and I just wish that I could take all of your pain, and I guess I’m doing that little by little by you letting me in and trusting me, but that’s not good enough. I want to physically take it all from you, because I...” He trailed off, glancing up at Derek and blinking his red eyes slowly for a moment so he could stop his eyes from glazing over.

He quickly closed his eyes tightly and lowered his head as he swallowed hard. “Because I love you.”


End file.
